John  Witherspoon 


By 
DAVID  WALKER  WOODS,  JR.,  M.  A. 


Niw  YORK       CHICAGO       TORONTO 

Fleming  H.   Revell  Company 

LONDON     AND     EDINBURGH 


Copyright,   1906,  by 
FLEMING  H.   REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  27  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  100  Princes  Street 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

WiTHERSPOON's  life  is  notable  in  connection 
with  four  important  movements :  the  struggle 
for  popular  rights  in  the  Church  of  Scotland ; 
the  administration  of  Princeton  College ;  the 
organization  of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Church ;  and  the  American  Revolution.  I  have 
tried  to  tell  the  story  of  his  life  simply  and  ac- 
curately. As  I  have  avoided  the  use  of  foot- 
notes I  shall  indicate  here  the  sources  of  my 
information.  For  the  Scotch  period  these  were 
Cunningham's  "  History  of  Scotland,"  "  Auto- 
biography of  Rev.  Alexander  Carlyle,"  and  the 
Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly ;  for  the 
American  period,  Bancroft's  "  History  of  the 
United  States,"  "Sprague's  Annals,"  Sander- 
son's "  Lives  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,"  Tyler's  "  Literary  History  of 
the  American  Revolution,"  McLean's  "  History 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,"  John  Adams' 
Diary,  the  Writings  of  Washington.  But  in 
all  cases  I  have  also  used  the  original  docu- 
ments. These  are  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Princeton  College,  the  minutes  of 
the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  of  the  Synod 


6  PREFATORY  NOTE 

of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  the  records 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  the  minutes  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  and  Council  of  Safety  of 
New  Jersey ;  the  Secret  Journals  of  Congress ; 
Thompson's  Journal ;  Wharton's  edition  of  the 
"  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution."  For  both  periods  I  have 
used  the  American  edition  of  Witherspoon's 
Works,  my  own  collection  of  his  manuscripts, 
and  letters  found  in  various  publications. 

I  here  express,  also,  my  grateful  appreciation 
of  many  courtesies  extended  to  me  by  the  libra- 
rians of  Princeton  University  and  Theological 
Seminary  and  Pennsylvania  College ;  by  the 
historical  societies  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  by  the  state  librarians  of  these  com- 
monwealths. I  am  also  indebted  to  the  late 
Senator  M.  S.  Quay  for  printed  copies  of  gov- 
ernment documents. 

Houck  Memorial  Afansf, 
Gettysburg,  Pa. 


CONTENTS 

THE  SCOTCH  PERIOD 

I.  EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT  .        .       1 1 

II.  BEITH 25 

III.  PAISLEY 47 

THE  AMERICAN  PERIOD 

I.  PRINCETON  COLLEGE      ....      77 

II.  PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON      ...      97 

III.  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  .        .        .138 

IV.  WlTHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN          .  .185 

1.  The  New  Jersey  Convention 

2.  The  Declaration  of  Independence, 

3.  Work  in  Congress 

4.  Steps  Towards  Peace     . 

V.  THE  LAST  YEARS 277 


THE  SCOTCH  PERIOD 


John  Witherspoon 


EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT 

JOHN  WITHERSPOON  was  born  February  5, 
1722,  in  the  manse  at  Yester,  East  Lothian,  Scot- 
land, the  son  of  a  parish  minister  of  the  estab- 
lished church.  According  to  one  account,  the 
father,  naturally  a  very  gifted  man,  was  too 
lazy  to  use  his  endowments  of  mind.  He  had 
been  well  educated,  was  fond  of  reading,  es- 
pecially the  sermons  of  the  French  Calvinistic 
preachers  of  the  day.  These  he  translated  into 
excellent  English  and  delivered  from  his  pulpit 
with  great  acceptance  and  even  with  an  elo- 
quence that  brought  him  some  repute.  In  gen- 
eral he  was  very  popular  and  his  family  were  so 
highly  esteemed  that  when  the  son  was  ready 
for  ordination  he  might  have  become  his  father's 
successor.  To  the  elder  Witherspoon  a  good 
dinner  with  such  wine  as  he  liked  commended 
itself  more  highly  than  the  scholarly  pursuits  of 
the  study.  He  was  a  very  large  man ;  "  a 

mountain  of  flesh,"  one  writer  calls  him.    When 

ii 


12  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

the  young  candidates  for  ordination  came  to 
Rev.  James  Witherspoon  to  be  examined  they 
were  most  hospitably  entertained  at  the  Yester 
manse,  and  doubtless  enjoyed  the  good  cheer 
of  the  table.  But  the  examination  of  a  student 
was  too  arduous  a  task  for  the  inert  minister. 
He  enjoyed  their  company  and  made  life  very 
pleasant  for  them.  Severe  examinations  were 
not  to  his  mind.  Other  accounts  of  the  Rev. 
James  Witherspoon  omit  any  references  to  the 
sensual  qualities  of  his  nature  and  emphasize 
his  abilities  as  a  clergyman. 

John  Witherspoon  inherited  his  father's  fine 
mind  and  the  scholarly  tastes  which  were  after- 
wards so  conspicuous  in  his  career.  Family 
tradition  likewise  kept  alive  in  the  boy  what- 
ever pride  and  ambition  might  arise  from  the 
knowledge  that  he  was  a  lineal  descendant  of 
John  Knox,  the  greatest  man  Scotland  ever 
produced,  and  of  John  Welch,  who  had  married 
a  daughter  of  Knox,  and  whose  conspicuously 
brave  and  brilliant  championship  of  religious 
liberty  is  the  pride  of  every  Protestant  Scotch- 
man. 

Witherspoon' s  mother  was  a  woman  of  more 
than  ordinary  force  of  character,  well  educated 
and  deeply  spiritual  in  her  nature.  To  her 
training  he  seems  to  have  owed  his  love  of  lib- 


EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT  13 

erty,  his  devotion  to  duty  and  his  lofty  concep- 
tions of  personal  conduct. 

How  much  interest  Witherspoon's  father  took 
in  the  education  of  his  son  we  are  not  told. 
The  clergy  were  the  best  educated  men  in  Scot- 
land, and  James  Witherspoon  was  not  an  excep- 
tion. A  high  degree  of  intellectual  culture  was 
required  of  them.  A  candidate  for  holy  orders 
was  obliged  to  pursue  a  classical  course  in  col- 
lege, which  was  followed  by  three  years  in  the 
divinity  school.  Before  he  could  be  ordained 
he  must  then  spend  two  years  as  a  licensed 
probationer  under  the  care  of  Presbytery.  This 
discipline  was  intended  to  secure  an  educated 
and  orthodox  ministry,  and  was  generally  ef- 
fective in  doing  so.  Most  clergymen  read  the 
Bible  in  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek  and 
were  equally  familiar  with  Latin.  As  in  our 
day  theological  ideas  are  largely  derived  from 
Europe  so  in  that  day  the  Protestant  preachers 
and  teachers  of  France  and  Switzerland  were 
the  guides  of  Scotch  ministers.  That  this  intel- 
lectual culture  and  orthodox  discipline  did  not 
always  produce  an  equally  high  degree  of  piety 
and  conscientiousness,  Witherspoon's  father  is 
an  evidence. 

Whether  the  son  was  from  the  first  destined 
to  become  a  clergyman  or  not,  he  was  given  a 


I4  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

liberal  education.  Early  in  his  boyhood  he  was 
sent  to  Haddington  to  attend  a  first  rate  pre- 
paratory school,  one  of  the  many  that  had  orig- 
inally been  established  by  Knox  all  over  the 
kingdom.  Doubtless  the  high  degree  of  liter- 
acy among  the  people  of  Scotland  is  due  to 
these  schools. 

Leaving  Haddington  young  Witherspoon  en- 
tered the  University  of  Edinburgh  at  the  age  of 
fourteen.  He  was  a  precocious  boy,  naturally 
endowed  with  a  good  mind,  and,  unlike  his 
father,  a  diligent  student,  quickly  taking  rank 
among  the  best  in  his  class.  At  that  time  the 
faculty  of  the  university  was  small  so  that  each 
professor  had  to  teach  several  subjects,  but  the 
students  numbered  less  than  a  hundred  and 
fifty.  While  none  of  the  professors  ever  at- 
tained scholarly  distinction,  one  of  them  at  least 
had  the  rarest  and  best  gift  of  a  teacher,  the 
power  of  imparting  enthusiasm.  The  students 
who  came  under  the  influence  of  Colin  Mc- 
Laurin,  professor  of  mathematics  and  the  phys- 
ical sciences,  quickly  caught  from  him  the  desire 
for  knowledge.  He  was  continually  urging  the 
authorities  of  the  university  to  increase  its 
equipment  and  touching  his  pupils  with  the 
never  dying  fire  of  the  love  of  learning. 

The  boys  must  have  needed  such  an  influence 


EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT  15 

to  carry  them  through  the  classroom  of  John 
Stevenson  who  taught  logic,  metaphysics  and 
the  ancient  languages,  apparently  all  at  the  same 
time.  One  of  his  pupils  has  told  us  of  Pro- 
fessor Stevenson's  methods.  His  lectures  were 
delivered  in  Latin,  with  which  language  every 
boy  was  supposed  to  be  sufficiently  familiar  to 
understand  what  the  good  doctor  was  saying. 
He  referred  frequently  to  Cicero,  Quintilian  and 
Horace  as  familiarly  as  if  these  authors  were  the 
daily  reading  of  the  students.  Or  perhaps  he 
would  devote  the  morning  to  a  book  of  Homer's 
"  Iliad "  which  the  students  would  read  in  his 
presence  while  he  commented  in  Latin  on  the 
beauties  of  it,  comparing  it  with  the  works  of 
Virgil,  Milton  and  others.  The  "  Iliad  "  disposed 
of  they  read  and  translated  Aristotle's  "  Politics  " 
or  Longinus'  "  Essay  on  the  Sublime."  Out  of 
all  this  the  boys  learned  not  only  Latin  and 
Greek  but  also  as  much  of  logic  and  metaphys- 
ics as  could  properly  be  drawn  from  such  writ- 
ings. 

A  very  important  feature  of  the  university 
life  outside  of  the  classrooms  was  furnished  by 
the  flourishing  literary  clubs  which  were  com- 
mon not  only  among  the  students  but  also  with 
the  professional  men  of  Edinburgh.  Wither- 
spoon  was  active  in  the  work  of  these  societies, 


16  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

being  especially  proficient  in  debate.  Students 
whose  interests  have  been  enlisted  in  organiza- 
tions of  this  sort  gladly  confess  to  the  invalu- 
able benefits  in  trained  alertness  and  clearness 
of  mind  derived  from  them.  Doubtless  the  rec- 
ollection of  such  an  influence  in  his  own  uni- 
versity course  led  Witherspoon  to  encourage 
the  two  famous  literary  societies  of  Princeton, 
one  of  which,  Whig  Hall,  was  reestablished  on 
an  earlier  organization  by  James  Madison 
shortly  after  Witherspoon  became  president  of 
the  college.  This  society,  and  the  other,  Clio 
Hall,  are  acknowledged  by  many  students  as 
having  had  for  them  as  great  an  educational 
value  as  the  regular  curriculum  of  the  class- 
rooms. 

Having  completed  with  marked  credit  the 
regular  four  years'  classical  course  in  the  univer- 
sity, Witherspoon  was  graduated  into  the 
divinity  school.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  at- 
tempt any  detailed  account  of  his  life  there.  In 
1741  the  famous  George  Whitfield  preached  in 
Edinburgh,  crowds  flocking  to  hear  him.  But  it 
does  not  appear  that  his  preaching  made  much 
impression  on  Witherspoon.  Yet  the  freshness 
and  warmth  of  his  preaching  were  much  needed 
to  transform  the  homiletic  methods  of  the  Scotch 
preachers.  There  was  little  originality  or  vital 


EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT  17 

force  among  these.  They  usually  followed  a 
settled  routine,  lecturing  through  the  Assembly's 
Catechism  or  the  less  formidable  Shorter 
Catechism  in  the  course  of  the  year  ;  employing 
far-fetched  allegory  in  their  treatment  of  Scrip- 
ture, giving  exhibitions  of  clever  jugglery  with 
theological  dogmas,  but  failing  to  apply  the 
living  truths  of  the  gospel  to  the  moral  needs  of 
the  times.  An  exception  was  found  in  William 
Wishart  who  had  become  principal  of  the  uni- 
versity in  1731,  the  year  of  Witherspoon's 
matriculation.  He  was  also  the  pastor  of  the 
Tolbooth  church.  By  the  freshness  and  force  of 
his  treatment  of  theological  subjects  and  the 
originality  of  his  thought  he  gave  a  new  im- 
petus to  the  religious  life  of  the  city.  The  peo- 
ple crowded  the  church  when  it  was  known  that 
he  would  preach.  For  the  students  he  remained 
the  model  minister  for  many  years,  and  was  the 
most  popular  pulpit  orator  in  Edinburgh.  His 
preaching  was  plain  and  direct,  dealing  with 
immediate  problems  of  life,  and  lighted  with 
pleasing  illustrations.  Without  forsaking  the 
beaten  paths  of  orthodoxy,  he  made  them  attract- 
ive, adorned  them  with  a  charming  style, 
freshened  them  with  colour.  Witherspoon's 
sermons  give  evidence  of  an  influence  of  this 
sort  of  preaching.  They  are  vigorous,  direct 


i8  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

and  full  of  life.  Of  them,  however,  I  shall 
speak  later.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  follow  him 
through  his  divinity  course  which  he  completed 
in  1743.  After  the  prescribed  two  years  of 
service  as  a  licensed  probationer,  during  which 
he  preached  in  various  churches,  he  was  finally 
installed,  1745,  minister  over  the  parish  church 
of  Beith,  the  congregation  unanimously  accept- 
ing his  appointment  by  the  patron,  the  Earl  of 
Eglinton. 

Just  here  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  have  an  ac- 
count of  the  method  of  settling  a  minister  over 
a  parish  in  that  year  of  grace  1 745.  Among  us 
in  America  a  congregation  of  Presbyterians  calls 
the  minister  of  its  choice  and  the  Presbytery  will 
install  him  if  there  are  no  objections  on  the  score 
of  his  moral  character  or  ministerial  standing. 
The  responsibility  rests  with  the  people  of  the 
church  more  than  with  the  Presbytery.  The 
latter  would  not  refuse  to  present  a  minister 
with  the  unanimous  call  of  a  congregation ; 
much  less  would  there  be  any  attempt  to  install 
a  pastor  against  the  expressed  wishes  of  the 
people,  nor  even  of  a  large  minority.  Quite 
otherwise  was  it  with  the  Presbyteries  of  Scot- 
land in  Witherspoon's  day,  when  a  very  com- 
plicated condition  existed.  The  landed  pro- 
prietors claimed  the  right  to  appoint  ministers 


EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT  19 

to  the  churches  on  their  estates  as  is  now  done 
in  England.  This  right,  however,  had  been 
abolished  in  1690,  and  the  call  vested  in  the 
congregation.  Clergymen  were,  nevertheless, 
ministers  of  the  established  church  and  their 
salaries,  or  stipends,  were  fixed  by  law.  Twenty- 
two  years  later,  in  1712,  the  call  had  been  vested 
again  in  the  proprietors  or  patrons,  as  they  were 
called,  and  then  began  the  struggle  in  which, 
later,  Witherspoon  took  a  prominent  part  and 
which  continued  for  more  than  a  hundred  years, 
until  in  1843  the  present  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land was  formed  by  ministers  who  voluntarily 
resigned  their  pastorates,  and  organized  churches 
supported  wholly  by  the  voluntary  subscrip- 
tions of  the  people,  and  organized  Presbyteries, 
Synods  and  a  General  Assembly  altogether  in- 
dependent of  government  control. 

When  the  act  restoring  patronage  first  became 
effective  in  1712  a  large  majority  of  the  General 
Assembly  opposed  its  operation.  Ministers  de- 
clined to  take  charge  of  churches  against  the 
wishes  of  the  people.  Strong  efforts,  which,  if 
continued,  might  have  been  successful,  were 
made  to  break  down  the  power  or  evade  the 
provisions  of  the  law.  But  gradually  the  tem- 
per of  the  clergy  changed.  A  majority  became 
willing  to  accept  the  nomination  of  the  patron 


20  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

and  to  install  a  minister,  often  against  the  wishes 
of  the  people,  frequently  in  spite  of  their  violent 
opposition,  and  sometimes  with  the  aid  of  sol- 
diers. Some  of  the  majority  even  went  so  far  as 
to  place  upon  a  committee  appointed  to  install 
an  objectionable  minister,  one  who  was  known 
to  be  conscientiously  opposed  to  the  system, 
which  added  to  the  bitterness  of  it.  At  one  time 
committees  were  appointed  to  act  upon  pastoral 
settlements  during  the  intervals  between  the 
meetings  of  the  Assembly  which  were  known  as 
"  riding  committees,"  travelling  on  horseback 
from  place  to  place  to  do  their  work. 

An  account  of  one  of  these  disputed  settle- 
ments will  serve  to  illustrate  the  working  of  the 
system.  The  patronage  of  the  parish  of  Lanark 
was  claimed  by  Lockhart  of  Lee,  by  Lockhart 
of  Carnwath,  by  the  magistrate  of  the  borough 
and  by  the  crown.  Lockhart  of  Lee  presented 
a  Mr.  Dick ;  the  borough  and  the  crown  con- 
curred in  presenting  a  Mr.  Gray.  The  Presby- 
tery found  from  their  records  that  Lockhart  of 
Lee  had  become  infeft  in  the  patronage  in  1647 
and  had  drawn  the  stipend  during  a  vacancy. 
The  case  seemed  to  be  clear  and  the  Presbytery 
proceeded  to  install  Mr.  Dick.  But  the  people 
took  a  hand  in  the  matter.  They  disliked  the 
Lockharts  and  had  an  intense  hatred  of  the 


EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT  21 

system  of  patronage.  The  magistrates  who 
had  been  set  aside  were  angered  and  refused  to 
suppress  the  mob  which  assembled  when  the 
Presbytery  attempted  to  carry  out  their  decision. 
The  people  held  the  church  and  assured  the 
ministers  that  any  attempt  to  enter  would  be 
resisted  even  to  bloodshed.  The  case  was 
finally  taken  into  the  civil  courts,  which  decided 
against  Mr.  Dick  who  was  compelled  to  with- 
draw, receiving  no  pay  for  the  four  years  of  his 
service  while  the  case  was  in  process. 

Such  occurrences  were  not  unusual.  More 
than  fifty  similar  cases  were  brought  before  the 
General  Assembly  between  1740  and  1750. 
Many  churches  were  without  ministers  for  years, 
the  congregation  divided  all  the  while  into  hos- 
tile factions.  In  the  decisions  of  the  Assembly 
no  uniform  rule  was  followed.  Sometimes  the 
patron  was  supported  and  the  minister  installed 
against  the  wishes  of  the  people  who  not  infre- 
quently left  him  to  preach  to  empty  pews.  Or 
perhaps  the  patron  was  persuaded  to  withdraw 
the  minister  of  his  choice.  Litigants  before  the 
church  courts  appealed  to  varying  precedents 
and  confusion  increased. 

Many  attempts  were  made  to  simplify  the 
matter.  Nobody  thought  of  disestablishment. 
The  patrons  and  such  ministers  as  enjoyed 


22  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

their  favour  formed  one  party  ;  the  people  and 
the  pastors  who  sympathized  with  them  com- 
posed the  other,  with  here  and  there  a  noble- 
man on  the  popular  side,  exercising  his  rights 
in  a  conciliatory  spirit.  In  1731  an  attempt 
was  made  to  straighten  the  tangle  which  seemed 
promising.  An  overture  was  brought  before 
the  Assembly  providing  that  when  a  charge 
became  vacant  and  the  patron  failed  or  refused 
to  present  a  minister,  the  landholders  and  elders 
in  the  country  parishes,  the  town  council  and 
elders  in  the  towns,  should  make  out  the  call 
to  a  minister.  If  the  congregation  approved  he 
should  be  installed ;  if  not,  the  Presbytery  was 
empowered  to  determine  the  matter  and  set  him 
aside  or  install  him  as  seemed  best  As  was 
required  by  law  this  overture  was  sent  down  to 
the  Presbyteries  for  their  action.  The  next 
year,  although  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries 
had  failed  to  act  upon  it,  the  Assembly  passed 
it  into  a  standing  law.  Such  a  stretch  of  au- 
thority was  itself  a  violation  of  a  law  known  as 
the  Barrier  Act,  designed  to  protect  the  Pres- 
byteries from  coercive  measures  by  the  Assem- 
bly. The  latter  justified  its  course  on  the  spe- 
cious plea  that  the  eighteen  Presbyteries  which 
had  failed  to  report  should  be  counted  in  favour 
of  it.  This  decision  was  not  allowed  to  pass 


EARLY  YEARS  AND  ENVIRONMENT  23 

unchallenged.  Ebenezer  Erskine,  who  had  once 
before  resisted  an  arbitrary  ruling  of  the  As- 
sembly, not  only  protested  against  this  stretch 
of  authority,  but,  on  retiring  from  the  modera- 
tor's chair  of  his  Synod,  denounced  the  pro- 
ceeding so  bitterly  that  the  Synod  censured 
him.  From  this  censure  he  and  three  of  his 
friends  appealed  to  the  Assembly.  But  the 
temper  of  that  body  had  been  aroused,  the 
censure  was  affirmed,  and  Erskine  was  sum- 
moned to 'appear  for  rebuke.  He  went,  noth- 
ing daunted ;  but  the  rebuke  having  been 
publicly  administered,  he  at  once  proceeded 
to  enter  his  protest  against  this  last  act,  a 
right  clearly  belonging  to  him  in  a  church 
which  he  himself  had  declared  to  be  "  the  freest 
society  in  the  world."  Yet  for  thus  exercising 
his  undoubted  right  under  the  law,  a  right 
growing  out  of  the  inmost  spirit  of  Protestant- 
ism, he  was  deposed  from  the  ministry.  The 
deposition  was  a  blunder  soon  repented,  but 
too  late  to  repair  the  damage  done  by  it.  Er- 
skine and  his  three  friends,  who  seceded  from 
the  established  church,  formed  what  has  since 
been  known  as  the  Seceder  church,  which  has 
produced  some  of  the  finest  men,  both  in  Scot- 
land and  America,  among  those  who  accept  the 
doctrines  of  Calvinism.  Nine  years  later  these 


24  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

men  were  joined  by  another,  John  Gillespie, 
who  was  deposed  for  refusing  to  assist  in  settling 
over  a  parish  a  minister  to  whom  a  large  ma- 
jority of  the  people  were  violently  opposed. 

The  recital  of  these  instances  has  seemed  to 
me  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  afford  the  reader 
some  idea  of  the  background  and  atmosphere 
of  Witherspoon's  life.  It  is  evident  that  the 
issues  thus  drawn  were  not  doctrinal  but  eccle- 
siastical. The  question  was  not  one  of  ortho- 
doxy versus  heresy  but  of  authority  versus  lib- 
erty ;  of  tyranny  acting  under  cover  of  the  law, 
too  often  arbitrarily  enacted,  interpreted  and 
enforced  on  the  one  side  ;  and  of  popular  rights, 
as  yet  accepting  the  established  church,  making 
no  attempt  to  abolish  it  but  claiming  justice 
and  freedom  within  it,  on  the  other  side.  This 
was  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  church  of 
Scotland  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. 


II 

BEITH 

WlTHERSPOON  was  minister  of  the  parish  of 
Beith  for  twelve  years,  devoting  himself  dili- 
gently to  the  duties  of  his  office.  From  the  be- 
ginning of  his  ministerial  career  he  conceived  a 
high  idea  of  it.  He  was  fond  of  study.  His 
sermons  were  carefully  prepared,  being  fully 
written,  committed  to  memory  and  delivered 
without  notes.  He  was  not  a  pleasing  speaker, 
his  voice  being  somewhat  harsh,  but  he  was  a 
good  preacher.  When  he  exchanged  pulpits 
with  neighbouring  clergymen  he  was  always 
heard  with  acceptance,  and  his  own  parishion- 
ers were  devoted  to  him.  It  does  not  appear 
that  he  ever  made  any  attempt  to  be  transferred 
to  another  parish.  His  work  at  Beith  was  done 
in  the  spirit  of  one  who  expected  and  would  be 
glad  to  spend  his  life  there.  Although  a  studi- 
ous man  with  a  well-trained  mind,  he  wrote  lit- 
tle for  publication  in  the  earlier  years  of  his 
ministry  at  Beith.  The  children  of  the  parish 
were  duly  well  catechized,  their  parents  teach- 
ing them  first  the  Shorter  Catechism,  and  later 
the  longer,  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  the 

25 


26  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

minister  visiting  their  homes  statedly  and  test- 
ing the  knowledge  of  the  boys  and  girls.  Those 
visits  for  catechizing  were  ordeals  not  relished 
by  the  youngsters,  but  Witherspoon  was  fond 
of  children  and  got  along  well  with  them. 

His  theology  was  the  strict  Calvinism  of  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  from  which  he 
never  departed.  That  he  was  sincere  in  his 
adhesion  to  its  doctrines  is  beyond  doubt.  But 
he  was  not  unacquainted  with  other  teachings. 
His  correspondence  and  literary  productions,  as 
well  as  his  sermons,  show  that,  for  the  times  in 
which  he  lived  he  was  a  wide  reader.  History 
was  one  of  his  favourite  fields.  Of  course  he 
was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics,  quoting  them  with  easy  familiar- 
ity. He  was  as  easily  at  home  in  the  realm  of 
French  literature  and  philosophy.  Montesquieu 
was  his  favourite  French  author.  He  also  knew 
the  works  of  German  writers.  But  for  the  most 
part  he  was  happiest  in  preaching  to  his  people 
the  familiar  doctrines  of  his  church. 

Shortly  after  going  to  Beith  he  was  married 
to  Elizabeth  Montgomery,  of  Craighouse,  Ayr- 
shire, whose  father,  Robert  Montgomery,  was  a 
distant  kinsman  of  the  Earl  of  Eglinton,  by 
whom  Witherspoon  was  appointed  to  the 
parish. 


BEITH  27 

A  story  has  come  down  to  us  which  makes 
him  a  side  hero  of  the  battle  of  Falkirk.  Be- 
cause of  his  remote  descent  from  the  royal 
house  of  Stuart  the  incident  has  been  used  as 
evidence  of  his  sympathy  with  the  Pretender, 
while  others  have  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  he 
led  a  company  of  volunteers  against  him.  The 
truth  seems  to  be  that,  prompted  by  curiosity, 
he  went  upon  a  hill  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
battle-ground  or,  more  probably,  along  the  line 
of  retreat  followed  by  the  Pretender's  army. 
Lest  he  should  give  information  to  the  English 
forces  he  was  made  prisoner  by  the  rebels  and 
confined  for  some  days  in  the  neighbouring 
castle  of  Donne.  Some  of  the  thinner  men 
among  the  prisoners  escaped  by  creeping  along 
the  coping  of  a  wall  but  Witherspoon  was  too 
large  for  the  narrow  and  perilous  space  and 
was  obliged  to  remain  behind  until  his  release 
by  the  collapse  of  the  rebellion. 

With  this  exception  his  ministerial  life  at 
Beith  was  uninterrupted  by  any  unusual  event. 
But  his  activities  were  not  confined  to  his  pro- 
fession as  a  clergyman.  For  a  short  time  he 
was  one  of  the  overseers  of  the  highway  in  the 
parish.  In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  this 
office  he  showed  the  same  zeal  and  the  same 
independent  spirit  which  he  manifested  in  every 


28  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

situation  of  his  life.  In  1 754  the  commissioners 
of  the  county  proposed  a  new  scheme  for  re- 
pairing the  roads,  assessing  the  tax  and  requir- 
ing the  labour  of  the  people.  This  made  neces- 
sary a  list  of  every  farmer  together  with  the 
number  of  horses  owned  and  the  number  of 
servants  employed  by  each.  The  commission- 
ers also  announced,  as  the  first  step  in  their 
plan  to  build  good  roads,  that  the  most  public 
roads  would  be  repaired  first  Witherspoon 
and  his  associates  proceeded  to  comply  with  the 
demand  to  send  in  the  lists  asked  for.  But 
upon  undertaking  to  make  these,  many  difficul- 
ties were  encountered.  And  when  they  care- 
fully examined  the  new  plan  they  found  many 
objections  to  it.  It  was  not  possible  for  a  man 
like  Witherspoon,  nor  any  other  high-spirited 
Scotchman,  for  that  matter,  to  submit  without 
protest  to  what  he  regarded  as  an  injustice. 
He  called  his  fellow  overseers  together  and  pre- 
pared a  paper  to  be  sent  by  them  to  the  ap- 
proaching meeting  of  the  justices  of  the  peace 
and  commissioners  of  the  highway,  these  of- 
ficers being  entrusted  by  Scotch  law  with  the 
management  of  the  shire.  In  this  paper  he 
objects  to  the  scheme  as  proposed.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  send  lists  of  owners  of  horses  because 


BEITH  29 

many  men  buy  horses  for  their  necessary  work 
and  sell  them  again  in  a  short  time,  not  finding 
it  profitable  to  feed  them  through  the  winter. 
Servants  also  are  hired  for  short  periods,  so 
that  it  is  impossible  to  give  an  accurate  list  of 
those  who,  being  employers,  would  be  required 
to  pay  a  larger  tax  or  do  more  work  upon  the 
roads  than  others.  He  will,  however,  endeavour 
to  make  as  careful  a  list  as  possible  and  await 
the  action  of  the  meeting.  A  more  serious  ob- 
jection lies  against  the  scheme.  The  failure  of 
former  schemes  for  making  good  roads  is  not 
due  to  the  common  people  but  to  the  gentry 
who  absent  themselves  from  meetings  and  fail 
to  fulfill  their  obligations.  Further,  what  assur- 
ance have  we,  he  asks,  that  the  officers  under 
the  new  scheme  will  be  any  more  zealous  and 
diligent  than  they  have  been  under  others? 
But  the  most  serious  objection  is  that  there  is 
no  agreement  as  to  what  are  the  most  public 
roads.  Some  of  the  so-called  public  roads  ran 
through  great  tracts  of  land  from  which  the 
noblemen  had  removed  the  tenants  and  which 
were  little  used  by  the  common  people  as  they 
travelled  to  market,  or  they  were  roads  which 
ran  from  one  county  to  another,  and  these 
should  be  kept  up  by  those  who  travel  greater 


30  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

distances  than  the  small  farmer  who  seldom 
goes  farther  from  home  than  to  his  neighbour's 
or  to  church. 

This  paper  shows  where  Witherspoon's  sym- 
pathies were.  On  broad  grounds  he  contended 
that  not  only  popular  rights,  but  also  the  na- 
tion's strength,  demanded  that  the  gentry 
should  not  compel  the  tenant  to  bear  the  greater 
part  of  the  expense,  but  that  this  should  be  dis- 
tributed equably.  Holding  his  position  by  the 
grace  of  a  noble  patron,  he  knew  his  rights 
under  the  law  of  Scotland,  and  feared  not  to 
protest  against  injustice  whether  it  bore  upon 
himself  in  the  church  or  upon  the  people  in 
their  business  and  on  their  farms.  This  fine 
spirit,  so  far  from  bringing  him  the  enmity  of 
the  nobility,  won  for  him  respect.  His  opinions 
were  always  expressed  with  courtesy.  He 
found  no  fault  with  the  social  order  of  his  day. 
But  he  plead  for  justice  to  all  alike.  He  be- 
lieved and  taught  that  religion  will  enable  a 
man,  whatever  be  his  station,  to  conduct  him- 
self, both  towards  superiors  and  inferiors,  so 
that  their  relations  shall  be  harmonious  and 
mutually  satisfactory. 

The  church,  however,  was  Witherspoon's 
most  congenial  field.  Nor  was  it  merely  as  a 
parish  minister  that  he  regarded  himself.  He 


BEITH  31 

belonged  to  the  church  of  Scotland  ;  its  honour 
was  partly  in  his  keeping ;  for  its  ministers  a 
high  standard  of  character  must  be  maintained. 
Such  events  as  have  already  been  described  were 
recurring  in  the  church.  They  were  unusually 
numerous  during  his  residence  at  Beith  and  his 
indignation  rose  higher  with  each  fresh  case  of 
injustice.  People  were  compelled  to  accept  as 
ministers  men  whom  they  did  not  like,  or  could 
not  respect.  It  goes  without  saying  that  a 
clergyman  who  would  accept  a  charge  under 
such  circumstances  was  hardly  fitted  to  assume 
its  duties.  His  ministrations  would  accomplish 
little  good,  his  presence  tended  to  excite  enmity 
and  to  alienate  people  from  religion.  Wither- 
spoon  and  men  of  his  stamp  found  graver  fault. 
Many  of  the  ministers  who  were  thus  installed 
were  unorthodox.  They  were  obliged  to  de- 
clare upon  oath  that  they  believed  and  accepted 
doctrines  which  they  privately  repudiated  and 
publicly  ignored  or  criticised.  Whatever  one 
may  think  of  the  doctrines  themselves  such 
conduct  was  nothing  else  than  dishonest. 

Besides  this  many  of  the  ministers  were 
otherwise  morally  unfit  for  their  duties.  Total 
abstinence  was  rare  among  any  class  in  those 
days.  Everybody  used  wine  and  Witherspoon 
himself  liked  the  best  he  could  get.  But  many 


32  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

of  the  ministers,  courting  the  favour  of  the 
patrons  of  vacant  churches,  acquired  habits  of 
intemperance.  When  there  was  a  meeting  of 
Presbytery  or  Assembly  to  act  upon  cases  of 
disputed  settlements,  the  patrons  interested  in 
'the  litigation  often  opened  public  houses  to 
entertain  the  ministers  and  elders.  Everybody 
drank  freely  and  one  can  readily  imagine  the 
effect.  The  ministers  were  a  jovial  set,  fond  of 
drinking,  seeking  the  loose  society  of  the  wild 
young  bloods.  It  is  related  of  one  of  them  that 
"he  could  pass  at  once  from  the  most  un- 
bounded jollity  to  the  most  fervid  devotion ; 
yet  I  believe,"  says  the  writer  of  this  account, 
"  that  his  hypocrisy  was  no  more  than  habit 
grounded  merely  on  temper  and  that  his  apt- 
ness to  pray  was  as  easy  and  natural  to  him  as 
to  drink  a  convivial  glass."  This  itself  is  the 
judgment  of  a  clergyman  and  indicates  the 
mildness  with  which  the  practice  was  regarded 
by  many  of  the  clergy.  Not  such  was  the 
temper  of  Witherspoon  whose  sense  of  decency 
was  outraged  by  the  vulgarity  and  coarseness 
of  these  scenes.  To  an  orthodox  clergyman 
who  had  a  high  conception  of  the  ministerial 
office  hypocrisy  and  drunkenness  were  shock- 
ing. It  grew  out  of  the  evil  system  of  patron- 
age. On  every  possible  occasion  Witherspoon 


BEITH  33 

combated  the  practice  of  forcing  objectionable 
ministers  upon  unwilling  people.  In  all  the 
meetings  of  the  church,  where  protest  was 
proper,  he  championed  the  cause  of  popular 
rights  against  those  who,  because  of  their  loose 
and  easy  theology,  were  called  Moderates,  and 
who  were  almost  always  in  a  majority  in  the 
General  Assembly. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  all  the  Moderates 
were  men  of  low  character  or  inferior  abilities. 
They  numbered  among  them  such  a  man  as 
William  Robertson,  principal  of  St.  Andrew's 
University,  a  polished  and  courtly  gentleman, 
an  historian  of  note,  with  a  character  above  re- 
proach. The  fault  lay  in  the  system  by  which 
it  was  possible  for  a  man  of  gross  habits  and 
inferior  ability  to  be  placed  in  charge  of  a 
Christian  church  through  the  influence  of  a 
patron  who  had  no  further  interest  in  religion. 
That  there  were  incompetent  men  who  shirked 
their  duties,  neglected  their  parishes,  and  dis- 
graced their  office,  is  evident  not  only  from 
Witherspoon's  writings  but  from  the  newspaper 
press  of  the  day,  from  the  pictures  of  the  times 
in  Scott's  novels,  and  from  the  minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly.  In  1751  it  was  necessary 
for  the  Assembly  to  order  the  Presbyteries  to 
inquire  whether  the  Lord's  supper  was  adminis- 


34  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

tered  at  least  once  a  year  and  if  not  what  ex- 
cuse could  be  given  for  the  omission.  Parishes 
complained  to  Presbytery  of  the  inattention  of 
their  ministers. 

The  establishment,  it  may  be  remarked, 
worked  harm  in  another  way.  It  imposed  upon 
the  clergyman  a  creed  from  which  he  could  not 
conscientiously  depart  so  long  as  he  held  his 
office,  within  the  limits  of  which  all  his  think- 
ing must  be  done,  beyond  which  his  mind 
might  not  range.  This  fettered  the  mind.  It 
made  originality  impossible  and  was  in  itself  a 
form  of  intellectual  tyranny  which  the  Moder- 
ates combatted.  Commenting  on  this  phase  of 
the  situation,  Cunningham  remarks  that  few 
Scotch  ministers  have  dared  to  think  for  them- 
selves. The  two  conditions  of  compulsory 
orthodoxy  on  the  one  hand  and  loose  living  on 
the  other  makes  applicable  to  a  certain  type  of 
Scotch  minister  Milton's  famous  line, 

"  New  Presbyter  is  but  old  Priest  writ  large." 

Whatever  lack  of  originality  might  be  found  in 
Witherspoon  there  was  no  lack  of  sincerity, 
conscientiousness  or  high  principle.  One  won- 
ders, after  all,  not  merely  at  the  necessity  but  at 
the  possibility  of  originality  in  one  who  devotes 
his  life  to  proclaiming  the  principles  of  the  Ten 


BEITH  35 

Commandments  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
As  the  evil  continued  from  year  to  year  and 
seemed  to  be  increasing,  Witherspoon  fought  it 
with  all  his  power.  Loyal  to  the  doctrinal 
standards  of  his  church  he  was  not  content  to 
rest  under  an  execution  of  the  ecclesiastical  law 
which  manifestly  worked  a  wrong,  and  while  he 
did  not  attempt  to  change  the  law,  he  strove 
hard  to  combat  the  evils  of  its  working.  In  the 
Presbytery  he  was  usually  successful,  but  on  ap- 
peal, the  General  Assembly,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  almost  invariably  decided  in  favour  of  the 
patron  against  the  congregation.  That  it  was 
not  altogether  the  system  itself  but  its  abuse,  of 
which  Witherspoon  and  his  friends  complained, 
seems  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  himself  had 
accepted,  and  later  accepted  again,  an  appoint- 
ment by  a  patron  ;  but  in  his  case  the  appoint- 
ment was  confirmed  each  time  by  the  congrega- 
tion. The  positions  of  the  two  parties  have 
been  so  admirably  stated  by  Cunningham  that 
I  can  do  no  better  than  to  quote  his  words. 

"  When  men  are  considered  as  individuals," 
said  the  Moderates,  "  we  acknowledge  that  they 
have  no  guide  but  their  own  understanding  and 
no  judge  but  their  own  conscience  ;  but  when 
joined  in  society  the  right  of  private  judgment 
is  superseded  the  conscience  of  the  individual  is 


36  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

merged  in  that  of  the  community  and  the 
minority  must  yield  to  the  dictates  of  the 
majority."  Think  of  the  spiritual  descendants 
of  John  Knox  using  an  argument  which  is  one 
of  the  strongholds  of  Roman  Catholic  logic  1 
"  These  maxims,"  they  continued,  "  form  the 
basis  of  Presbyterian  church  government.  The 
two  capital  articles,  by  which  Presbytery  is  dis- 
tinguished from  every  other  ecclesiastical  polity, 
are  the  parity  of  its  ministers  and  the  subordina- 
tion of  its  courts.  By  the  one,  individual 
ministers  are  prevented  from  exercising  lord- 
ship over  their  brethren ;  by  the  other,  confusion 
and  anarchy  are  prevented.  Wherever  there  is 
a  subordination  of  courts,  one  must  be  supreme ; 
and  though  it  be  not  infallible,  yet  its  sentences 
must  be  absolute  and  final.  No  inferior  court 
may  disobey  its  mandates  with  impunity,  or  all 
government  is  at  an  end  ;  no  individual  may  set 
up  his  own  scruples  against  the  decisions  of  the 
whole  church  or  authority  sinks  into  contempt. 
Accordingly  every  minister  is  required  at  his 
ordination  to  vow  that  he  will  submit  himself  to 
the  discipline  and  government  of  the  church. 
Submit  himself,  therefore  he  must,  or  if  he  can- 
not there  is  but  one  remedy,  he  must  withdraw 
himself  from  its  communion." 

"  The  popular  party  argued  that  this  was  to 


BEITH  37 

introduce  despotism  into  the  church — to  subject 
the  servants  of  God  to  the  rigours  of  a  military 
law.  They  did  not  deny  the  necessary  subor- 
dination of  the  ecclesiastical  courts ;  but  so  long 
as  the  General  Assembly  was  fallible,  they 
demurred  to  its  sentences  being  absolutely 
binding.  The  Church  of  Scotland,  said  they,  is 
but  a  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and 
within  it  the  law  of  Christ  must  be  paramount. 
God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience.  He  who 
sins  against  his  conscience  sins  against  God ; 
and  no  order  of  a  superior  court  can  make  good 
evil  or  evil  good.  No  man,  no  Christian,  can 
resign  the  right  of  judging  for  himself.  Is  the 
General  Assembly,  they  continued,  resolved  to 
compel  Presbyteries  to  execute  its  sentences  at 
all  hazards  ?  is  conscience  to  be  stifled  ?  is  the 
strong  conviction  of  duty  to  be  disregarded  ?  is 
everything  that  is  sacred  to  be  sacrificed  to  the 
single  principle  of  submission  to  authority? 
What  will  be  the  result  of  such  compulsory 
measures  ?  The  honest  and  the  brave  will  be 
compelled  to  seek  for  liberty  of  conscience  with- 
out the  pale  of  the  Establishment ;  the  unprinci- 
pled and  the  cowardly  may  remain,  but  they 
will  remain  with  consciences  debauched  by  the 
high  stretch  of  church  authority,  by  being  com- 
pelled to  do  what  their  hearts  tell  them  they 


38  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

ought  not  to  do.  We  plead  not  for  license  to 
every  man  to  do  as  he  pleases,  but  we  plead 
that  we  may  not  be  bound  hand  and  foot  by  a 
crushing  despotism ;  that  the  law  may  relax 
something  of  its  sternness  in  cases  where  con- 
science is  concerned." 

These  principles  of  the  Popular  party  Wither- 
spoon  afterwards  expressed  in  the  preliminary 
principles  drawn  up  by  him  and  prefixed  to 
the  constitution  of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  has  not  always  acted  in  their 
spirit  nor  in  conformity  to  his  ideas  of  the  best 
manner  of  mingling  authority  and  liberty.  The 
question  in  the  Scotch  Church  was  more  than 
an  academic  one.  The  Moderate  majority  in 
the  Assembly  continued  to  drive  their  measures 
through  by  the  sheer  force  of  numbers.  Two 
men  were  deposed  from  the  sacred  office  for 
nothing  worse  than  refusing  to  serve  upon  com- 
mittees appointed  to  install  unacceptable  minis- 
ters over  protesting  congregations.  Protests 
were  answered  by  censures  and  threats  of  re- 
moval. It  became  unsafe  for  men  to  oppose  the 
will  of  the  majority,  and  all  this,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, was  in  Protestant  Scotland. 

Failing  to  make  any  impression  by  appeals  to 
reason  and  justice  Witherspoon  determined  to 
try  the  power  of  ridicule.  In  1 753  he  issued, 


BEITH  39 

anonymously  and  so  safely,  a  little  book  which 
he  entitled  "  Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,  or 
the  Arcana  of  Church  Policy,"  in  which  he  pre- 
tended to  give  "  a  plain  and  easy  way  of  attain- 
ing to  the  character  of  a  moderate  man  as  at 
present  in  repute  in  the  Church  of  Scotland." 
After  a  short  introduction  wherein  he  declares 
his  purpose  "to  enumerate  distinctly  and  in 
their  proper  order  and  connection  all  the  several 
maxims  upon  which  moderate  men  conduct 
themselves,"  he  propounds  twelve  of  these,  fol- 
lowing each  maxim  with  an  explanation  and 
illustration  of  its  meaning.  The  maxims  pro- 
fess to  show  that  all  ecclesiastical  persons  of 
whatever  rank  that  are  suspected  of  heresy  are 
to  be  esteemed  men  of  great  genius ;  when  any 
man  is  charged  with  loose  practices  or  tenden- 
cies to  immorality  he  is  to  be  screened  and  pro- 
tected as  much  as  possible,  his  faults  being 
regarded  as  good  humoured  vices ;  it  is  a 
necessary  part  of  a  moderate  man's  character 
that  he  always  speak  of  the  confession  of  faith 
with  a  sneer ;  a  good  preacher  must  take  such 
subjects  as  "social  duties,"  quote  as  little  Scrip- 
ture as  possible  and  be  very  unacceptable  to 
the  common  people ;  he  must  cultivate  the  air 
and  manner  of  a  fine  gentleman  ;  he  must  have 
no  learning  but  the  works  of  Leibnitz,  Shaftes- 


40  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

bury  and  Hutcheson.  Here  is  inserted  what 
he  called  "The  Athenian  Creed,"  to  be  believed 
by  every  moderate  man.  I  quote  it  in  its  en- 
tirety. 

"  I  believe  in  the  beauty  and  comely  propor- 
tions of  Dame  Nature  and  in  Almighty  Fate, 
her  only  parent  and  guardian  ;  for  it  hath  been 
most  graciously  obliged  (blessed  be  its  name) 
to  make  us  all  very  good. 

"I  believe  that  the  universe  is  a  huge  ma- 
chine, wound  up  from  everlasting  by  necessity, 
and  consisting  of  an  infinite  number  of  links 
and  chains,  each  in  a  progressive  motion 
towards  the  zenith  of  its  perfection  and  merid- 
ian of  glory ;  that  I  myself  am  a  little  glorious 
piece  of  clockwork,  a  wheel  within  a  wheel,  or 
rather  a  pendulum  in  this  grand  machine  swing- 
ing hither  and  thither  by  the  different  impulses 
of  fate  and  destiny ;  that  my  soul  (if  I  have 
any)  is  an  imperceptible  bundle  of  exceedingly 
minute  corpuscles,  much  smaller  than  the  finest 
Holland  sand ;  and  that  certain  persons  in  a 
very  eminent  station  are  nothing  else  but  a 
huge  collection  of  necessary  agents,  who  can 
do  nothing  at  all. 

"I  believe  that  there  is  no  ill  in  the  universe, 
nor  any  such  thing  as  virtue  absolutely  con- 
sidered ;  that  those  things  vulgarly  called  sins 


BEITH  41 

are  only  errors  in  judgment,  and  foils  to  set  off 
the  beauty  of  Nature,  or  patches  to  adorn  her 
face ;  that  the  whole  race  of  intelligent  beings, 
even  the  devils  themselves  (if  there  are  any) 
shall  finally  be  happy ;  so  that  Judas  Iscariot  is 
by  this  time  a  glorified  saint  and  it  is  good  for 
him  that  he  hath  been  born. 

"In  fine  I  believe  in  the  divinity  of  L.  S. 
(Lord  Shaftesbury)  the  saintship  of  Marcus  An- 
toninus, the  perspicuity  and  sublimity  of  Aristotle, 
and  the  perpetual  duration  of  Mr.  Hutcheson's 
works,  notwithstanding  their  present  tendency 
to  oblivion." 

The  remaining  maxims  show  that  the  moder- 
ate man  must  endeavour,  as  much  as  he  hand- 
somely can,  to  put  off  any  appearance  of  de- 
votion ;  in  church  settlements,  which  are  the 
principal  causes  that  come  before  ministers  for 
judgment,  the  only  thing  to  be  regarded  is  who 
the  patron  and  the  great  and  noble  heritors  are 
for;  the  inclinations  of  the  common  people 
must  be  utterly  despised  ;  the  unpopular  candi- 
date must  be  praised  for  remarkable  abilities ; 
but  if,  after  being  settled,  he  shall  succeed  in 
gaining  the  people's  affections  he  must  be  de- 
spised ;  orthodox  opposers  must  be  compelled 
to  assist  in  installing  the  unpopular  minister, 
especially  if  they  have  scruples  of  conscience 


42  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

against  it;  moderate  men  must  always  speak 
of  their  opponents  as  knaves  and  fools ;  they 
must  have  great  charity  for  atheists  and  deists 
and  for  persons  of  loose  and  vicious  practices, 
but  none  at  all  for  the  pious  and  strictly  moral ; 
all  moderate  men  must  never  fail  to  support 
and  defend  one  another  to  the  utmost. 

Many  of  these  maxims  have  little  point  for 
us.  The  moderate  men,  however,  were  stung 
to  madness  by  them.  They  stirred  up  as  much 
clamour  among  the  clergy  as  Erasmus'  New 
Testament  did  among  the  monks.  Dire  were 
the  threats  made  against  the  author,  should  he 
be  discovered-  Witherspoon  was  not  the  only 
man  suspected  of  having  written  it.  A  certain 
Mr.  Johnson  was  accused  but  he  easily  dis- 
proved the  charge.  The  publisher  kept  the  se- 
cret well.  The  book  took  at  once.  It  was 
eagerly  read  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  the 
popular  party.  The  great  cry  raised  by  the 
moderate  men  was  regarded  as  evidence  of  the 
truthfulness  of  the  satire.  Following  each 
maxim  were  the  promised  elucidations  and 
illustrations,  but  as  there  was  not  a  single  per- 
sonal allusion  no  suit  for  slander  or  libel  could 
be  brought  against  the  publisher.  Five  editions 
of  the  book  were  issued,  each  edition  increasing 
the  rage  and  fury  of  the  pilloried  men.  As 


BEITH  43 

Witherspoon  said,  "  A  satire  that  does  not  bite 
is  good  for  nothing."  This  one  bit  and  stung. 
As  suspicion  pointed  more  and  more  to  the  real 
author,  his  enemies  tried  to  fasten  it  upon  him, 
but  without  success.  Nor  could  they  discover 
any  way  to  revenge  themselves  upon  him,  until, 
in  1757,  when  he  was  called  to  Paisley,  they  at- 
tempted to  prevent  his  transfer. 

The  method  of  transferring  a  minister  from 
one  church  to  another  required  that  the  church 
desiring  to  call  him  should  present  the  call  to 
the  Presbytery  in  which  it  was  located ;  the 
Presbytery  presented  the  call  to  the  minister,  if 
he  were  one  of  its  own  members,  or  to  the 
Presbytery  to  which  he  belonged,  and  that  body 
presented  it  to  him.  If  all  the  legal  proceedings 
were  regular  and  the  church  of  which  he  was 
the  pastor  consented,  the  transfer  would  be 
made.  No  Presbytery  had  the  right  to  refuse 
to  call  a  minister  if  he  were  in  good  standing, 
no  charges  pending  against  him.  The  Laigh 
(or  Low)  Street  Church  of  Paisley,  Presbytery  of 
Paisley,  issued  a  call  to  Witherspoon  who  was 
a  member  of  Irvine  Presbytery.  When  the  call 
came  before  the  Paisley  Presbytery,  that  body, 
a  majority  of  whom  were  moderates,  refused  to 
send  it  over  to  Irvine,  charging  that  Wither- 
spoon was  the  author  of  a  book  which  damaged 


44  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

the  reputation  of  ministers  before  the  people. 
The  Paisley  congregation  and  their  pastor- 
elect  appealed  to  the  Synod  of  Glasgow,  which 
had  jurisdiction  over  both  Presbyteries. 

He  had  no  standing  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Paisley  and  could  not  plead  his  cause  there.  It 
would  have  been  futile  to  do  so  in  the  face  of 
the  prejudice  against  him.  His  only  course  was 
to  appeal  to  the  Synod.  There  he  presented  a 
masterly  statement  of  his  case.  He  declares 
that  it  is  painful  for  him  to  stand  before  the 
Synod's  bar  in  some  sense  an  accused  person, 
for  he  had  been  represented  as  "  a  firebrand,  as 
violent  and  contentious,  unfit  to  be  a  member  of 
any  quiet  society."  He  demands  evidence  of 
this,  appealing  to  his  acquaintances,  even  among 
the  moderates  in  his  neighbourhood,  with  whom 
he  lived  on  friendly  terms.  Protesting  against 
their  associating  his  name  with  any  book  when 
they  have  no  proof  of  his  authorship  he  says, 
"  It  looks  as  if  they  themselves  were  struck  at  in 
the  performance  and  acted  as  interested  persons," 
and  asks  if  it  is  fair  that  they  his  accusers 
shall  be  likewise  his  judges,  a  thing  contrary  to 
law.  That  there  is  nothing  criminal  in  the  book 
may  be  inferred  from  the  commendation  it  has 
received  from  so  eminent  a  personage  as  the 
Bishop  of  London.  The  charge  made  in  the 


BEITH  45 

book  must  have  been  just  or  it  would  have 
been  treated  with  contempt.  Professing  himself 
amazed  at  the  boldness  of  his  accusers,  consid- 
ering the  land  in  which  they  lived,  he  asks,  "  Is 
it  not,  and  do  we  not  glory  in  its  being,  a  land 
of  liberty  ?  Is  it  then  a  land  of  liberty  and  yet 
a  land  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny?  Must  not  a 
man  have  equity  and  justice  in  the  church  as 
well  as  in  the  state  ?  "  He  defends  satire  as  a 
proper  mode  of  writing  in  that  it  serves  to  bring 
objectionable  men  and  practices  into  deserved 
contempt.  Moreover,  "  if  in  any  case  erroneous 
doctrine,  or  degeneracy  of  life,  is  plain  and  visi- 
ble, to  render  them  odious  must  be  a  duty." 
His  enemies  had  "  acted  in  a  most  unjust  and 
illegal  manner  in  passing  the  sentence  they 
have  done  in  my  absence,  and  without  any  ex- 
amination; .  .  .  whatever  were  their  par- 
ticular intentions,  by  their  violent  and  illegal 
stretches  of  power  in  falling  upon  it,  they  were 
plainly  of  the  worst  kind  ;  and  it  always  put  me 
in  mind  of  a  Fryer  of  the  Inquisition,  with  an 
unhappy  person  before  you,  whom  they  want 
to  convict  that  they  may  burn  him,  stroking 
him,  and  saying  to  him  in  the  spirit  of  meek- 
ness, '  Confess,  my  son,  confess.' '  In  conclu- 
sion he  appeals  to  the  laws  of  the  church  which 
they  had  not  proved  him  to  have  violated,  but 


46  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

which,  by  proceeding  in  this  inquisitorial  way, 
without  giving  him  an  opportunity  to  be  heard 
in  his  own  defense,  they  had  violently  and  ar- 
bitrarily set  aside. 

The  Synod  overruled  the  action  of  the  Pres- 
bytery and  ordered  that  Witherspoon  be  trans- 
ferred and  installed  over  the  church  which  had 
called  him. 

Literary  work  of  a  more  serious  kind  than  the 
satire  had  occupied  him  while  he  was  still  at 
Beith.  The  year  before  his  removal  to  Paisley 
he  had  published  an  essay  on  Justification ;  a 
little  book  which  had  a  wide  sale  not  only  in 
Great  Britain ;  but  also  among  the  English 
speaking  churches  of  the  continent,  at  Rotter- 
dam, Geneva  and  elsewhere,  as  well  as  in 
America.  The  year  of  his  transfer  to  Paisley 
another  and  more  pretentious  work  on  Regen- 
eration came  from  his  pen.  This  book  met 
with  even  a  better  reception  than  the  first.  The 
two  gave  him  high  rank  as  a  theological  writer. 
He  was  the  foremost  man  of  his  party  in  the 
Church  of  Scotland. 


Ill 

PAISLEY 

WiTHERSPOON  began  his  ministry  at  Paisley 
in  the  fullness  of  his  reputation,  the  recognized 
leader  of  the  section  which  stood  for  orthodoxy 
and  liberty.  An  ardent  and  sincere  Calvinist, 
he  accepted  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith  as  his  own  personal  belief.  That  creed, 
so  far  from  binding  men's  consciences  and 
minds,  in  his  opinion  liberated  them.  It  has 
been  wittily  said  by  another  Scotchman  that 
"  Calvinism  is  a  sheep  in  wolf's  clothing."  Its 
doctrine  of  predestination  has  been  represented 
as  relentless  and  inescapable  fate ;  foreordination 
has  been  supposed  to  destroy  the  freedom  of  the 
human  will.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss 
these  dogmas.  A  study  of  Witherspoon's  ser- 
mons and  correspondence,  a  close  following  of 
his  career,  show  that  in  these  teachings,  he  found 
for  himself,  and  believed  the  world  would  find, 
the  strongest  basis  for  hopefulness  in  that  pre- 
destinating love  and  that  foreordaining  grace 
which  mark  believing  men  as  the  children  of 
God  and  intend  them  to  be  transformed  into  the 
image  of  His  Son.  To  the  teaching  of  these 

47 


48  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

doctrines  he  joyously  and  earnestly  gave  his 
life.  His  writings  and  sermons  betray  strength 
and  sincerity  of  conviction.  He  does  not 
search  for  arguments  to  bolster  a  belief,  but  for 
the  best  manner  of  presenting  what  are  to  him 
necessary  and  eternal  truths.  These  doctrines 
are  worthless  in  his  opinion  unless  they  produce 
strong  and  pure  characters.  In  his  controversy 
with  the  Moderates  he  said,  "  It  is  dangerous  to 
claim  respect  for  a  creed  if  its  teachers  are  not 
men  of  pure  Christly  life."  A  year  after  his 
transfer  to  Paisley  he  was  chosen  Moderator  of 
the  synod.  His  sermon  on  retiring  from  the 
chair  in  1759  is  a  plea  for  high  character  in  the 
minister  of  Christ.  Personal  character  is  worth 
more  than  intellectual  zeal.  "Is  any  minister 
more  covetous  of  the  fleece  than  diligent  for  the 
welfare  of  the  flock ;  cold  and  heartless  in  his 
sacred  work,  but  loud  and  noisy  in  promiscuous 
and  foolish  conversation  ;  covering  or  palliating 
the  sins  of  the  great  because  they  promote  him  ; 
making  friends  and  companions  of  profane  per- 
sons ;  though  this  man's  zeal  should  burn  like  a 
flame  against  antinomianism,  and  though  his 
own  unvaried  strain  should  be  the  necessity  of 
holiness,  I  would  never  take  him  to  be  any  of 
its  real  friends."  "  If  one  set  apart  to  the  service 
of  Christ  in  the  gospel,  manifestly  shows  his 


PAISLEY  49 

duty  to  be  a  burden  and  does  no  more  work 
than  is  barely  sufficient  to  screen  him  from  cen- 
sure ;  if  he  reckons  it  a  piece  of  improvement 
how  seldom  or  how  short  he  can  preach,  and 
makes  his  boast  how  many  omissions  he  has 
brought  a  patient  and  an  injured  people  to 
endure  without  complaint ;  however  impossible 
it  may  be  to  ascertain  his  faults  by  a  libel,  he 
justly  merits  the  detestation  of  every  faithful 
Christian."  "  Nothing  does  more  hurt  to  the 
interest  of  religion,  than  its  being  loaded  with  a 
great  number,  who,  for  many  obvious  reasons, 
assume  the  form  while  they  are  strangers  to  the 
power  of  it."  "  As  the  gospel  is  allowed  on  all 
hands  to  be  a  doctrine  according  to  godliness, 
when  differences  arise,  and  each  opposite  side 
pretends  to  have  the  letter  of  the  law  in  its 
favour,  the  great  rule  of  decision  is,  which  doth 
most  immediately  and  most  certainly,  promote 
piety  and  holiness  in  all  manner  of  conversa- 
tion." 

Take  these  words  from  a  sermon  on  the  sac- 
rifice of  Christ.  "  Make  no  image  of  the  cross 
in  your  houses,  but  let  the  remembrance  of  it  be 
ever  in  your  hearts.  One  lively  view  of  this 
great  object  will  cool  the  flames  of  unclean  lust ; 
one  lively  view  of  this  great  object  will  make 
the  unjust  man  quit  his  hold  ;  one  lively  view  of 


50  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

this  tremendous  object  will  make  the  angry 
man  drop  his  weapon ;  nay,  one  look  of  mercy 
from  a  dying  Saviour  will  make  even  the 
covetous  man  open  his  hand."  He  was  not  a 
mystic  but  he  had  a  genuinely  devotional 
spirit.  "  Idleness  and  sloth,"  said  this  practical 
preacher,  "are  as  contrary  to  true  religion  as 
either  avarice  or  ambition."  And  on  the  other 
hand  he  says,  "  True  piety  points  to  one  thing  as 
its  centre  and  rest,  the  knowledge  and  enjoy- 
ment of  God."  "  Man  was  made  for  living  upon 
God."  Speaking  of  the  temptations  that  beset 
humanity  he  said,  "  If  sin  give  a  man  no  rest,  he 
should  give  it  no  quarter." 

The  Presbyterian  form  of  government  was 
believed  by  many  men  of  that  church  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago  to  be  divinely  ordained  and 
the  only  proper  system.  Witherspoon  believed 
it  to  be  more  Scriptural  than  any  other,  but  he 
had  the  utmost  charity  for  other  branches  of 
Christ's  church,  and  his  relations  with  men  of 
other  types  of  Protestantism  were  friendly.  His 
essay  on  Justification  was  published  with  a 
prefatory  note  addressed  to  an  English  clergy- 
man, Rev.  James  Hervey,  rector  of  Weston- 
Favel,  Northamptonshire,  which  is  a  sort  of 
dedication  to  him.  His  devotion  to  the  Presby- 
terian polity  was  grounded  not  only  on  his  belief 


PAISLEY  51 

that  it  is  apostolic,  but  more  particularly  be- 
cause he  believed  it  best  served  the  two  ends  of 
articulated  authority  and  well-regulated  liberty. 
Side  by  side  upon  the  bench  of  elders  in  the 
church  of  Scotland  sat  the  noble  earl  and  his 
tenant  farmer,  equally  office  holders  in  the 
church,  equally  chosen  by  the  free  vote  of  the 
people.  No  orders  of  the  ministry  put  one  man 
in  authority  over  another  and  a  layman  repre- 
sented every  church  at  every  delegated  gather- 
ing, thus  making  clerical  tyranny  an  impossi- 
bility. This  conception  of  church  government 
was  inseparably  connected  with  the  creed  which 
taught  that  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience, 
that  men  are  responsible  primarily  not  to  each 
other  nor  to  any  religious  teacher,  but  to  God 
Himself.  In  the  presence  of  the  Almighty  there 
are  no  personal  distinctions.  Superiority  of 
character  and  individual  ability  make  the  only 
valid  title  to  leadership.  In  all  his  contentions 
before  the  church  courts  Witherspoon  insisted 
on  the  untrammelled  liberty  of  the  people  to 
choose  their  ministers  and  he  did  this  in  the 
face  of  a  legal  establishment  which  permitted  a 
patron  to  appoint.  Not,  however,  against  the 
wishes  of  the  people,  said  Witherspoon.  For 
over  ten  years  he  continued,  in  Paisley,  to  pro- 
claim his  faith  and  to  contend  for  popular  rights. 


52  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

The  duties  of  a  parish  minister  were  not 
light.  There  were  no  Sunday-schools.  What- 
ever religious  instruction  the  people  received 
was  given  by  the  minister,  with  here  and  there 
a  schoolmaster  to  teach  the  Shorter  Catechism. 
Every  Sunday  there  were  two  sermons,  one  in 
the  morning,  another  in  the  afternoon.  During 
the  week,  day  in,  day  out,  the  conscientious 
pastor  was  among  his  people,  watching  over 
their  spiritual  interests  and  advising  them  in 
their  business  affairs.  No  vacations  broke  the 
monotony  of  the  routine,  unless  the  annual  vis- 
its to  Presbytery  or  Synod  might  be  regarded 
as  such.  There  were  few  things  to  distract  him 
except  the  trials  in  the  church  courts.  Life  was 
not  so  restless  as  it  has  since  become.  Innova- 
tions were  few,  changes  in  modes  of  living,  even 
of  thinking  were  rare.  The  book  agent  had 
not  been  created.  There  were  no  "  problems." 
His  was,  however,  a  full  life  in  every  sense.  As 
a  minister  of  the  church  of  Scotland  he  took  a 
prominent  part  in  endeavouring  to  settle  the 
questions  of  the  day. 

To  the  seven  deadly  sins  of  the  church  of 
Rome  the  Puritans  had  added  three,  dancing, 
card-playing  and  theatre-going.  In  the  early 
eighteenth  century  the  church  severely  disci- 
plined those  members  who  were  guilty  of  any 


PAISLEY  53 

of  them.  George  Whitfield  preached  against  a 
new  playhouse  being  erected  in  Glasgow,  July, 
1753,  with  such  warmth  and  force  that,  before 
his  departure  from  the  city,  workmen  were  em- 
ployed to  take  it  down  to  prevent  its  destruction 
by  the  mob.  When  the  tragedy  "  Douglas " 
was  presented  in  Edinburgh,  in  1 755,  there  was 
great  indignation  both  among  clergy  and 
people,  because  its  author,  John  Home,  was  a 
clergyman.  The  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  con- 
demned both  the  play  and  the  writer  of  it  A 
minister,  who  had  gone  to  see  it  acted,  en- 
deavoured in  vain  to  excuse  himself  and  escape 
the  censure  of  the  church,  by  saying  that  he 
had  taken  a  back  seat  and  remained  in  the 
shadows  where  he  could  not  be  seen.  In 
Witherspoon's  opinion  it  was  a  serious  breach 
of  church  discipline  and  an  offense  against  the 
Christian  religion  for  any  one  to  countenance 
stage  plays.  So  important  did  he  deem  it  that 
he  wrote  a  book  against  it,  "A  Serious  Inquiry 
into  the  Nature  and  Effects  of  the  Stage."  Much 
of  this  little  book  is  interesting  to-day  because 
of  the  clever  way  in  which  the  arguments  are 
presented.  It  may  cause  a  smile  to  read  that 
he  is  induced  to  take  up  the  subject  in  view 
"  of  the  declining  state  of  religion,  the  preva- 
lence of  national  sins  and  the  danger  of  deso- 


54  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

lating  judgments."  One  wonders  whether 
some  modern  writer  of  kindred  spirit  has  not 
inserted  in  the  essay  "  that  such  a  levity  of 
spirit  prevails  in  this  age,  that  very  few  persons 
of  fashion  will  read  or  consider  anything  that  is 
written  in  a  grave  or  serious  style.  Whoever 
will  look  into  the  monthly  catalogue  of  books, 
published  in  Britain  for  some  years  past,  may  be 
convinced  of  this  at  one  glance.  What  an  im- 
mense proportion  do  romances  under  the  titles 
of  lives,  adventures,  memoirs,  histories,  etc., 
bear  to  any  other  sort  of  production  in  this 
age."  Romances  and  novels  were  seldom 
found  in  the  strict  Presbyterian  household  in  a 
land  that  produced  the  greatest  romantic  writer 
of  the  English  tongue.  Witherspoon  failed  to 
perceive  the  value  of  fiction  even  as  mental 
recreation  and  the  power  of  the  English  litera- 
ture of  his  day  was  lost  upon  him.  It  is  not 
surprising,  however,  that  writers  like  Fielding 
and  Smollett,  the  most  popular  authors  of  that 
period,  failed  to  win  the  favour  of  a  Puritan  like 
Witherspoon.  As  for  the  drama,  he  knew  noth- 
ing about  the  stage  of  his  own  day  from  per- 
sonal attendance.  In  spite  of  this  lack  of  ex- 
perience he  declares  in  his  essay  that  the  theatre 
is  immoral  in  itself  and  by  its  influence.  One 
of  his  objections  is  that  the  chief  end  is  to  amuse, 


PAISLEY  55 

not  to  afford  recreation,  the  real  value  of  which 
he  clearly  appreciates.  He  insists  that  mere 
amusement  saps  the  strength  and  undermines 
the  foundation  of  character,  both  individual  and 
national.  "  It  gives  men  a  habit  of  idleness  and 
trifling,  and  makes  them  averse  from  returning 
to  anything  that  requires  serious  application." 
"  No  man  who  has  made  the  trial  can  deliber- 
ately and  with  good  conscience  affirm  that  at- 
tending plays  has  added  strength  to  his  mind 
and  warmth  to  his  affections  in  the  duties  of  de- 
votion ;  that  it  has  made  him  more  able  and 
willing  to  exert  his  intellectual  powers  in  the 
graver  and  more  important  offices  of  the  Chris- 
tian life ;  nay  nor  even  made  him  more  diligent 
and  active  in  the  business  of  civil  life."  Plays 
he  condemns  as  pernicious,  exhibiting  and 
arousing  the  lower  and  baser  passions  of  men, 
exposing  them  to  temptation  unnecessarily, 
emphasizing  the  immoral  and  cultivating  the 
frivolous  sides  of  human  nature. 

What  astonishes  the  modern  reader  of  this 
old-fashioned  essay  is  the  author's  thorough 
and  even  intimate  knowledge  of  his  subject. 
He  seems  to  know  his  ground.  He  is  familiar 
with  Greek  and  Latin,  French  and  English 
plays;  he  quotes  from  numerous  authorities, 
ancient  and  modern,  even  including  "  the  Phil- 


56  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

adelphia  newspapers."  He  knows  the  names 
and  reputations  of  the  famous  players  of  his 
own  day  and  of  other  periods.  His  book  is  not 
a  ranting  tirade  of  ignorant,  even  if  unsympa- 
thetic, prejudice,  but  the  scholarly  reasoning  of 
a  well-informed  student.  His  charges  against 
those  who  frequent  the  theatre  are  too  sweeping 
and  much  of  his  reasoning  falls  through.  But 
the  book  had  a  wide  circulation  and  brought 
him  praise  from  the  people  whose  good  opinion 
he  valued  most,  although  his  was  a  temper  of 
mind  which  led  him  to  speak  his  opinion  re- 
gardless of  popular  favour. 

That  the  essay  ever  reached  the  eye  of  the 
author  of  "  Douglas "  does  not  appear.  The 
play  had  a  successful  run  in  Edinburgh,  despite 
the  action  of  the  Presbytery  against  its  author, 
a  man  so  much  esteemed  by  his  parishioners 
that  on  his  retiring  from  the  ministry  they  vol- 
untarily hauled  the  stone  for  the  house  which 
he  built  for  himself. 

Shortly  after  going  to  Paisley  Witherspoon 
took  advantage  of  an  opportunity  afforded  by  his 
being  invited  to  preach  the  installation  sermon 
of  Rev.  Archibald  Davidson,  pastor-elect  of  the 
Abbey  Church,  to  reply  to  the  charge  of  sedi- 
tion and  faction  made  against  his  own  party  by 
the  Moderates.  His  "  Ecclesiastical  Charac- 


PAISLEY  57 

teristics"  was  a  cutting  satire,  and  even  the 
text  of  this  sermon  has  a  sting  in  it.  His  friends 
the  enemy  were  doubtless  in  his  mind  when  he 
announced  it,  "These  that  have  turned  the 
world  upside  down  are  come  hither  also." 
Deftly  he  turns  the  charge  against  himself  into 
the  ranks  of  his  foes.  Wicked  men  are  always 
making  such  charges  against  the  servants  of 
God,  he  says,  and  asks  what  there  is  in  true 
religion  which  gives  occasion  for  it.  He  finds 
it  in  the  conduct  of  Christians  which  is  a  con- 
tinual reproach  to  others.  "The  example  of 
good  men  to  the  wicked  is,  like  the  sun  upon  a 
weak  eye,  distressing  and  painful."  "  If  I  may 
speak  so,  it  flashes  light  upon  the  conscience, 
rouses  it  from  a  state  of  sensible  security,  points 
its  arrows  and  sharpens  its  sting."  The  sermon 
is  too  long  to  give  even  an  outline  of  it,  but  it 
is  mainly  a  very  strong  plea  for  patience  and 
courage  in  doing  right  and  suffering  wrong, 
begging  his  hearers  to  "  forego  the  hope  that 
by  certain  prudent  compliances"  they  will 
"conciliate  and  preserve  the  favour  of  every 
man  and  every  party." 

His  increased  reputation  brought  him  invita- 
tions to  preach  on  various  occasions.  One  of 
these  was  the  anniversary  of  the  Society  for 
Propagating  Christian  Knowledge.  It  is,  I  be- 


58  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

lieve,  still  in  existence  and  still  carries  on  the 
sort  of  work  which  engaged  it  then.  Not  only 
did  it  endeavour  to  evangelize  the  regions  of 
Scotland  not  yet  brought  within  control  of  the 
church  ;  it  established  schools  for  the  education 
of  the  people.  Antedating  by  more  than  a 
hundred  years  the  industrial  features  of  modern 
missionary  methods,  home  and  foreign,  this 
society  undertook  to  instruct  young  men  in  the 
best  methods  of  farming,  taught  them  useful 
trades  and  established  schools  for  girls  where 
sewing  and  other  domestic  arts  were  taught. 
The  Highlands  and  islands  of  Scotland  were 
visited  by  the  agents  of  the  society  who  carried 
Bibles  with  them  which  they  distributed,  by  gift 
or  sale,  and  taught  the  people  to  read.  With- 
erspoon  was  one  of  its  warmest  supporters.  It 
did  not  confine  its  efforts  to  Scotland.  A  legacy 
left  by  Rev.  Daniel  Williams  of  London  for 
propagating  the  gospel  in  foreign  lands  had 
been  used  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  for  its 
work  among  the  Indians.  David  Brainerd  was 
partly  supported  by  it.  As  early  as  1748  Ebe- 
nezer  Pemberton,  an  American  clergyman,  had 
received  aid  from  the  society  for  the  education 
of  one  young  man  for  the  ministry  in  the  col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  then  located  temporarily  at 
Newark.  When,  in  1739,  the  Synod  of  Phila- 


PAISLEY  59 

delphia  sent  down  an  overture  recommending 
the  erection  of  "  a  seminary  of  learning,"  they 
expressed  the  hope  that  two  of  the  men  named 
as  a  committee  to  further  the  project "  might  be 
sent  home  to  Europe  to  prosecute  this  affair 
with  proper  directions."  This  was  not  done  at 
once.  After  the  college  had  become  established, 
in  1749,  the  Scotch  society  appropriated  thirty 
pounds  for  the  purchase  of  books  for  the  college 
library,  and  the  next  year  granted  it  an  appro- 
priation for  the  education  of  two  young  Indians. 
Three  years  later,  upon  petition  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York,  the  society  asked  for  a  national  col- 
lection for  the  American  Church.  About  the 
same  time  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Samuel  Davies 
were  appointed  by  the  synod  to  visit  Great 
Britain  on  behalf  of  the  college.  Davies  after- 
wards became  president  of  Princeton.  The  two 
men  were  most  cordially  received  by  the  Pres- 
byterians of  England  who  gave  them  seventeen 
hundred  pounds.  Upon  their  appearing  before 
the  General  Assembly  in  Scotland,  that  body 
ordered  the  Presbyteries  to  appoint  a  day  for 
the  collection  and  urged  the  "  ministers  to  en- 
force the  recommendation  with  suitable  exhor- 
tations." More  than  a  thousand  pounds  were 
contributed  to  the  American  college  by  the 
Scotch  Church.  I  have  related  this  incident  to 


60  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

show  the  close  relations  existing  between  the 
two  countries.  Witherspoon's  connection  with 
the  society  for  propagating  Christian  knowledge 
gave  him  an  opportunity  for  knowing  some- 
thing about  its  foreign  work  and  doubtless 
made  him  acquainted  with  the  needs  and  pros- 
pects of  the  college  of  New  Jersey.  In  America 
he  found  many  readers  of  his  books  which  fol- 
lowed one  another  very  closely.  In  1764  he 
collected  his  essays  into  two  volumes  which 
were  published  by  a  London  house.  In  the 
same  year  the  University  of  Aberdeen  gave  him 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity. 

Local  church  politics  demanded  his  attention. 
The  schoolmaster  of  his  parish  was  chosen  by 
the  church  session  in  conjunction  with  the  town 
council,  the  dominie  also  filling  the  office  of 
session  clerk.  Before  the  appointed  time  With- 
erspoon  called  his  session  together  and  urged 
upon  the  elders  concerted  action  which  would 
result  in  securing  the  man  acceptable  to  the 
church.  In  these  matters  as  well  as  in  the 
larger  affairs  of  the  church  he  proved  to  be  a 
very  clever  politician.  Such  training  as  he  re- 
ceived in  Scottish  ecclesiastical  politics  served 
him  well  during  the  troubled  times  preceding 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  America. 
His  insight  into  British  politics  is  shown  in  a 


PAISLEY  61 

sermon  preached  on  the  occasion  of  a  fast  or- 
dered by  the  government.  As  a  clergyman  of 
the  established  church  Witherspoon  fulfilled  the 
duty  laid  upon  him.  Great  dangers  threatened 
the  British  empire  in  1757.  The  Seven  Years' 
War  had  begun  with  serious  reverses  to  the 
English  arms.  In  the  capitulation  of  Port 
Mahon  the  key  to  the  Mediterranean  had  been 
lost ;  the  English  army  in  Germany  had  been 
defeated  ;  disaster  seemed  to  be  creeping  like  a 
shadow  over  India  since  Olive  had  left  with 
broken  health ;  in  America  Braddock's  defeat 
had  been  followed  by  the  loss  of  Niagara,  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Champlain.  England 
seemed  to  be  on  the  verge  of  losing  all  her  for- 
eign possessions ;  already  her  American  col- 
onies were  complaining  of  the  disdain  with 
which  certain  British  statesmen  were  inclined  to 
speak  of  them.  In  view  of  these  things  the 
British  ministry  ordered  that  Thursday,  Feb- 
ruary 1 6,  1758,  be  observed  as  a  day  of  public 
fasting  and  prayer.  Witherspoon's  sermon  is  a 
reflection  of  his  character.  He  does  not  glorify 
the  nation ;  he  looks  upon  these  disasters,  real 
and  impending,  as  those  desolating  judgments 
of  which  he  had  spoken  in  his  essay  on  the 
stage.  But  their  causes  he  finds  in  the  proper 
place.  Recalling  the  people  to  the  true  mean- 


62  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

ing  of  life,  which  will  not  be  found  in  mere  ma- 
terial prosperity  and  military  success,  but  in 
virtue  and  uprightness,  he  asks  if  it  is  a  matter 
for  surprise  that  failure  stares  the  nation  in  the 
face.  One  is  reminded  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah. 
"  Instead  of  any  genuine  public  spirit,  a  proud 
and  factious  endeavour  to  disgrace  each  others' 
measures,  and  wrest  the  ensigns  of  government 
out  of  each  others'  hands."  "  In  the  case  of 
disappointments,  on  the  one  hand,  are  we  not 
ungovernable  and  headstrong  in  our  resent- 
ments against  men?  and  equally  foolish  and 
sanguine  on  the  other,  in  our  hopes  of  those 
who  are  substituted  in  their  place  ?  We  give 
pompous  details  of  armaments,  and  prophecy, 
nay,  even  describe  their  victories  long  before 
the  season  of  action,  and  incautiously  celebrate 
the  characters  of  leaders  while  they  are  only 
putting  on  their  harness  and  going  into  the 
field." 

In  1762  Witherspoon  was  a  defendant  in  a 
suit  for  libel.  His  side  of  the  case  is  given  in  a 
statement  prefixed  to  a  sermon  which  he  pub- 
lished, the  two  together  being  made  the  basis 
of  the  prosecution.  A  service  was  held  in  the 
Laigh  Street  church  on  Saturday,  February  6, 
1 762,  the  day  before  the  celebration  of  the  sacra- 
ment. Some  young  men,  who  were  present, 


PAISLEY  63 

went,  after  the  meeting,  to  the  room  of  one  of 
them  to  dine,  and  there  engaged  in  a  mock 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper.  Becoming 
hilarious  their  mockery  was  heard  by  some 
passers-by  who  were  scandalized  by  such  blas- 
phemy, especially  on  the  day  preceding  sacra- 
ment Sabbath,  a  day  observed  by  Presbyterians 
with  almost  as  much  reverence  as  the  Sabbath 
itself.  The  men  were  citizens  of  Paisley,  one  an 
ensign  in  the  army,  one  a  writer,  and  two  man- 
ufacturers. Upon  hearing  of  the  shocking  be- 
haviour, Witherspoon  preached  a  sermon  on 
"  Seasonable  advice  to  young  people."  It  made 
such  an  impression  on  some  of  his  hearers,  who 
were  indignant  at  the  conduct  of  the  young 
men,  that  they  requested  the  minister  to  publish 
it.  The  sermon  itself  furnished  no  ground  for 
complaint,  but  the  explanatory  note  gives  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  sacreligious  scene  and 
specifically  mentions  the  names  of  the  partici- 
pants. It  was  addressed  to  the  bailies  and  town 
council  of  Paisley.  The  accused  men  promptly 
brought  an  action  for  libel  against  Witherspoon, 
who  failed  to  make  good  his  charges  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  civil  courts.  He  was  heavily 
mulcted  in  damages  and  would  probably  have 
been  financially  ruined,  with  the  risk  of  being 
sent  to  prison,  had  not  some  of  his  parishioners, 


64  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

who  had  urged  the  publication  of  the  sermon, 
generously  come  forward,  and  obligated  them- 
selves for  the  full  amount.  So  far  from  the 
affair  doing  him  any  harm,  it  rather  increased 
his  popularity. 

In  1764  his  publisher  told  him  there  was  a 
demand  for  another  edition  of  his  "  Character- 
istics." It  was  the  fifth  and  proved  to  be  the 
last.  The  time  had  now  come  for  him  to  avow 
himself  the  author.  Not  only  could  he  do  this 
without  fear  of  being  successfully  attacked  in 
the  church  courts,  but  he  also  felt  that  he  might 
give  a  more  serious  turn  to  the  whole  subject 
No  apology  is  made  for  having  treated  the  situ- 
ation satirically  ;  he  justifies  the  use  of  ridicule. 
This  last  edition  is  dedicated  "  to  the  nobility 
and  gentry  of  Scotland,  particularly  such  of 
them  as  are  elders  of  the  church  and  frequently 
members  of  the  General  Assembly."  "  I  am 
not  to  flatter  you,"  he  says  with  perfect  frank- 
ness, "with  an  entire  approbation  as  church 
members,  but  beseech  you  seriously  to  consider 
whether  you  ought  any  longer  to  give  coun- 
tenance to  the  measures  which  have  for  some 
time  generally  prevailed."  In  their  present 
temper  an  appeal  to  the  clergy  is  hopeless. 
"  When  once  the  clergy  are  corrupt  their  refor- 
mation can  be  looked  for  from  the  laity  only 


PAISLEY  65 

and  not  from  themselves."  "  I  look  upon  every 
attempt  for  reviving  the  interest  of  religion  as 
quite  hopeless  unless  you  be  pleased  to  support 
it."  He  reminds  them  that  "the  laity  never 
lent  their  influence  to  promote  the  ambition 
and  secular  greatness  of  ecclesiastics  but  they 
received  their  reward  in  ingratitude  and  con- 
tempt." "  I  humbly  entreat  you  who  only  can 
do  it  with  success  to  frown  upon  the  luxurious 
and  aspiring,  to  encourage  the  humble  and 
diligent  clergyman." 

In  the  serious  apology,  which  is  longer  than 
the  satire  itself,  he  congratulates  himself  in  hav- 
ing concealed  the  authorship,  since  by  those 
who  were  stung  by  it,  "  the  most  opprobrious 
names  were  bestowed  upon  the  concealed 
author,  and  the  most  dreadful  threatenings 
uttered  in  case  they  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to 
discover  and  convict  him,"  as  was  shown  in 
their  treatment  of  a  gentleman  whom  they 
suspected.  "  But  though  I  had  by  good  man- 
agement provided  myself  a  shelter  from  the 
storm,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  but  I  heard  it 
well  enough  rattling  over  my  head."  He  prob- 
ably enjoyed  the  noise  of  it.  Nevertheless  he 
affirms  that  what  induced  him  to  write  was  "  a 
deep  concern  for  the  declining  interest  in  relig- 
ion in  the  church  of  Scotland,  mixed  with  some 


66  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

indignation  at  what  appeared  to  me  a  strange 
abuse  of  church  authority."  He  refers  to  the 
deposition  of  two  men,  Adam  and  Gillespie,  for 
refusing  "  to  join  in  the  ordination  of  a  pastor 
without  a  people."  As  he  had  been  severely 
condemned  for  attacking  and  exposing  the 
characters  of  ministers  he  asks  why  in  reason  it 
should  not  be  done  if  the  ministers  deserve  it. 
"  Where  the  character  is  really  bad  I  hold  it  as 
a  first  principle  that  as  it  is  in  them  doubly 
criminal  and  doubly  pernicious  so  it  ought  to  be 
exposed  with  double  severity."  They  had  com- 
plained that  to  give  clergymen  a  bad  reputation 
strengthens  the  cause  of  infidelity.  Of  course 
it  does,  says  Witherspoon ;  "  Men  are  always 
more  influenced  in  their  regard  for  or  contempt 
of  religion  by  what  they  see  in  the  characters 
and  behaviours  of  men,  than  by  any  speculative 
reasonings  whatever."  But,  he  asks,  "  Was  the 
first  information  had  of  the  characters  of  the 
clergy  drawn  from  that  performance  ?  Because 
a  bad  opinion  leads  men  to  infidelity  shall  we 
cover  their  failings  and  palliate  their  crimes  ?  " 
Rather  let  the  guilty  persons  be  chastised. 
"  Every  real  Christian  should  hold  in  detesta- 
tion those  who  by  an  unworthy  behaviour 
expose  the  sacred  order  to  contempt."  Hun- 
dreds of  writings,  he  declares,  attacking  true 


PAISLEY  67 

religion  have  never  been  condemned  by  these 
Moderate  clergymen.  He  quotes  the  criticism 
made  when  Moliere's  play,  Tartuffe,  was  given 
in  France ;  "  That  a  man  may  write  what  he 
pleaseth  against  God  Almighty  in  perfect 
security,  but  if  he  write  against  the  clergy  in 
power  he  is  ruined  forever."  Satire  he  finds 
sanctioned  by  the  Almighty  who  used  it  against 
Adam  after  the  fall  in  the  words,  "  Behold  the 
man  is  become  as  one  of  us  to  know  good  and 
evil." 

Then  he  claims  that  there  is  such  a  spirit  of 
levity  abroad  that  a  satire  was  necessary  if  he 
wished  to  have  his  opinions  read,  for  men  in 
that  frivolous  age  would  pay  no  attention  to 
serious  writing.  "Those  who  have  long  had 
their  appetites  quickened  by  a  variety  of  dishes 
and  the  most  pleasing  sauces  are  not  able  to 
relish  plainer,  though  better  and  more  solid 
food."  The  Moderates  had  by  a  course  of 
decisions  planted  the  country  with  useless 
ministers  and  disdained  to  make  any  other 
answer  to  their  opponents  than  the  unanswerable 
argument  of  deposition.  One  great  end  of  the 
"  Characteristics  "  had  been  to  open  the  eyes  of 
the  really  good  men  among  the  Moderates  of 
whom  he  acknowledges  there  are  many.  But  it 
appears  that  "  the  more  the  complaint  of  degen- 


68  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

eracy  in  the  church  of  Scotland  is  just,  the  more 
difficult  it  will  be  to  carry  a  conviction  of  it  to 
the  minds,  either  of  those  who  are  guilty  of  it, 
or  of  those  who  observe  it"  He  had  not  cared 
to  mention  names,  it  was  not  necessary.  Every- 
body could  recognize  the  guilty.  "On  the 
other  hand  though  I  should  produce  the  names 
and  surnames  of  those  clergy  who,  mounted  upon 
their  coursers  at  the  public  races,  join  the  gentle- 
men of  the  turf  and  are  well  skilled  in  all  the  terms 
of  that  honourable  art;  though  I  should  name 
those  who  are  to  be  found  at  routs  and  drums  and 
other  polite  assemblies  of  the  same  nature,  and 
can  descant  with  greater  clearness  on  the  laws 
of  the  gaming  table  than  the  Bible ;  instead  of 
being  commanded  to  produce  a  proof  of  the 
facts  I  should  expect  to  find  many  who  denied 
the  relevancy  of  the  crimes."  He  thinks  that  if 
a  man  were  to  publish  a  book  that  had  in  it  a 
tenth  part  of  the  truth  about  the  manners  and 
morals  of  some  ministers,  he  ought  to  have  a 
ship  hired  to  fly  to  another  country.  Simony,  a 
vice  not  strange  among  gambling  clergymen, 
had  begun  to  creep  in,  so  that  men  tried  to 
secure  parishes  not  only  by  flattery  and  loose 
living,  but  even  by  purchasing  the  goodwill  of 
those  who  had  influence  with  the  patron.  As 
early  as  1753  the  practice  became  noticeable 


PAISLEY  69 

and  in  1759  the  evil  was  so  notorious  that  the 
General  Assembly  enacted  a  law  against  it, 
providing  that  "no  minister  shall  make  any 
composition  with  his  heritors."  Even  as  late  as 
1820  the  evil  had  not  been  uprooted.  It  is  not 
a  pleasing  or  hopeful  picture,  nor  does  Wither- 
spoon  overdraw  it.  Nevertheless  he  is  not  a 
pessimist.  Recalling  the  successes  of  past  re- 
forms he  believes  that  "  religion  will  rise  from 
its  ruins." 

One  other  satire  he  published,  "  The  History 
of  a  Corporation  of  Servants,"  but  it  was 
not  a  success.  Among  some  manuscripts  of 
Witherspoon,  I  found  a  set  of  verses  originally 
intended  to  accompany  the  apology.  For- 
tunately for  the  author's  repute  he  finally  with- 
held them.  There  are  too  many  to  reproduce 
here,  but  it  may  interest  the  reader  to  see  a 
specimen  of  the  verse,  wretched  doggerel 
though  it  is. 

"  You  know  it  is  in  vain  to  think 
That  men  of  sense  and  spirit 
Will  ever  cease  to  swear  and  drink 
While  as  their  purse  will  bear  it. 

*. 

"  Nay  even  when  the  money's  scarce 
We  drink  to  bear  down  sorrow, 
For  all  the  world's  but  a  farce 
And  we  may  die  to-morrow. 


70  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

"  The  way  for  clergymen  to  win 

A  sweet  delicious  dinner, 
Is  still  to  wink  and  spare  the  sin 
And  justify  the  sinner." 

Other  verses  contain  the  initial  and  final 
letters  of  names,  doubtless  of  the  most  noto- 
rious of  the  convivial,  sporting  parsons,  but 
they  would  not  interest  the  modern  reader. 

In  more  serious  ways  the  popular  party  strove 
to  secure  a  reformation  of  the  church.  Seldom 
were  they  successful  in  their  politics.  But  upon 
finding  that  the  Moderates  were  accustomed  to 
instruct  their  friends  in  the  Presbyteries  to  send 
up  commissioners  favourable  to  them,  and  in 
the  Assembly  to  pass  the  word  around  as  to  the 
measures  to  be  supported,  Witherspoon  and  his 
friends  caught  them  napping  on  one  occasion 
and  contrived  to  secure  a  majority  in  the  As- 
sembly. Dr.  Robertson,  leader  of  the  Mod- 
erates, for  whom  Witherspoon  had  the  greatest 
personal  respect,  congratulated  the  latter  saying, 
"  You  have  your  men  better  disciplined  than 
formerly."  "  Yes,"  replied  Witherspoon,  "  you 
have  taught  us  how  to  beat  you  with  your  own 
weapons."  But  the  shrewd  Moderates  were 
not  caught  again.  They  increased  in  power ; 
they  carried  through  repressive  measures  at 
their  will ;  they  were  never  conciliatory  and 


PAISLEY  71 

continued  to  alienate  the  popularists  more  and 
more.  Under  these  circumstances  the  invita- 
tions that  came  to  Witherspoon,  if  not  very 
tempting  must  have  been  very  consoling. 
Dundee  greatly  desired  to  have  him  as  its 
minister.  From  the  English  Church  of  Rotter- 
dam came  an  earnest  invitation  for  his  pastoral 
services.  An  urgent  call  was  sent  by  the  most 
important  church  in  Dublin.  They  were  all 
declined.  He  seemed  wedded  to  Paisley.  As 
the  recognized  leader  of  his  party,  in  the  ma- 
turity of  his  powers,  he  seemed  to  feel  that  his 
best  work  could  be  done  there  and  he  elected 
to  remain. 

In  1766,  however,  came  an  invitation  which 
was  destined  to  change  the  scene  of  his  activi- 
ties. Richard  Stockton,  an  American  gentle- 
man, and  a  trustee  of  Princeton  College,  then 
on  a  visit  to  England,  was  instructed  by  the 
trustees  to  go  to  Paisley  and  urge  upon  With- 
erspoon the  acceptance  of  the  presidency  of  the 
college,  to  which  office  they  had  elected  him. 
Witherspoon  had  in  the  meantime  been  notified 
of  the  election  by  letter.  Mr.  Stockton  was 
unable  to  persuade  him  to  accept  Mrs.  With- 
erspoon seemed  particularly  averse  to  the  idea, 
and  was  even  rude  to  the  American  visitor,  so 
that  he  cut  short  the  interview  and  beat  a  hasty 


72  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

retreat  from  the  manse.  Later  she  apologized 
for  her  discourtesy  saying  that  she  was  ill  at  the 
time,  and  the  thought  of  going  so  far  away 
from  her  home  and  friends  made  her  very  un- 
happy. Her  husband  wrote  declining  the  office. 
The  next  year,  Rev.  Charles  Beattie,  another 
trustee  of  Princeton,  visited  Paisley.  Instead  of 
going  to  the  manse,  dreading  the  danger  of 
offending  Mrs.  Witherspoon,  he  first  secured 
quarters  at  the  inn,  and  sent  a  note  to  Dr.  With- 
erspoon, asking  for  an  interview.  The  hospi- 
table Scotchman,  urged  by  his  wife,  who  was 
greatly  distressed  over  her  former  rudeness, 
hastened  to  the  inn  and  carried  Mr.  Beattie 
home  with  him.  He  was  so  delighted  with 
Mrs.  Witherspoon's  courtesy  and  gentle  man- 
ners that  he  was  ready  to  doubt  the  story  of  her 
treatment  of  Mr.  Stockton.  More  delighted 
was  he  when  Witherspoon  told  him  that  the 
college  had  been  much  on  his  mind  and  that, 
were  the  offer  renewed,  he  should  be  very  glad 
to  accept.  Beattie  wrote  at  once  to  the  trustees. 
From  other  Scotchmen  letters  had  gone  to 
America  intimating  that  Witherspoon  would 
welcome  an  opportunity  of  changing  his  mind. 
Whereupon  at  a  meeting  in  December,  1767, 
"  The  board,  receiving  the  intelligence  with  pe- 
culiar satisfaction,  proceeded  immediately  to  a 


PAISLEY  73 

reelection."  The  sum  of  one  hundred  guineas 
was  voted  him  for  the  expenses  of  removing  to 
America.  Upon  receiving  notice  of  his  reelec- 
tion, Witherspoon  asked  the  Presbytery  to 
relieve  him  of  his  charge  and  dismiss  him  to 
the  new  land.  In  May,  1768,  he  preached  his 
farewell  sermon,  characteristically  choosing  as 
his  subject,  "  Ministerial  Fidelity  in  Declaring 
the  Whole  Counsel  of  God."  He  dwelt  at 
great  length  upon  the  character  and  duty  of  a 
good  pastor.  In  the  closing  paragraph  of  this, 
the  longest  sermon  he  ever  preached,  doubtless 
feeling  deeply  the  strain  of  separation,  he  bids 
farewell  in  these  words.  "  For  what  I  have  to 
say  with  regard  to  the  present  dispensation  of 
providence  that  puts  an  end  to  my  ministry 
among  you,  I  shall  bring  it  within  very  narrow 
bounds.  It  were  easy  by  saying  a  few  words 
to  move  the  concern  both  of  speaker  and 
hearers ;  this  I  have  hitherto  chosen  to  avoid ; 
this  I  shall  only  say,  that  I  am  deeply  sensible 
of  the  affection  and  duty  of  the  congregation 
that  attended  my  ministry,  and  others  under 
my^  charge.  I  cannot  express  my  sense  of  it 
better  than  in  the  words  of  the  late  eminently 
pious  Dr.  Finlay,  my  immediate  predecessor  in 
this  new  office,  who,  on  his  death-bed  said  to 
those  about  him,  '  I  owe  a  long  catalogue  of 


74  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

debts  to  my  friends  which  will  not  be  put  to  my 
charge ;  I  hope  God  will  discharge  them  for 
me.'  The  only  further  request  I  have  to  make 
of  you  is  that  you  would  give  me  and  my  fam- 
ily an  interest  in  your  prayers.  Intreat  of  God 
that  we  may  be  preserved  from  perils  and 
dangers  and  carried  to  the  place  of  our  destina- 
tion in  safety ;  and  that  I  may  be  assisted  of 
Him  in  every  future  duty,  and  not  fall  under 
the  terrible  reproach  of  agreeing  to  make  so 
distant  a  removal  and  then  being  found  unfit 
for  the  important  task."  The  people  of  his 
church  and  his  friends  throughout  Scotland 
were  reluctant  to  let  him  go.  A  rich  kinsman, 
an  old  bachelor,  promised  to  make  Witherspoon 
his  heir  if  the  minister  would  remain.  But  the 
die  was  cast.  Leaving  Scotland  he  went  to 
London,  where  he  secured  a  number  of  books 
for  the  college  library,  and  settled  accounts 
with  his  own  publisher.  Then  on  the  2Oth  of 
May,  1768,  he  and  his  family  sailed  for  Phila- 
delphia where  they  arrived  on  the  6th  of  August. 
Here  he  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Hodge,  a  friend 
of  the  college.  They  went  to  Princeton  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  month,  making  their  home 
with  Richard  Stockton  for  a  few  weeks,  until 
their  own  house  was  ready  for  them. 


THE  AMERICAN  PERIOD 


I 

PRINCETON  COLLEGE 

UNTIL  the  founding  of  Princeton  there  were 
in  the  American  colonies  of  Great  Britain  only 
three  colleges  where  a  young  man  could  receive 
a  good  classical  and  scientific  education.  Two 
of  these  were  in  New  England ;  Harvard  had 
been  established  at  Cambridge  near  Boston  in 
1636  under  a  charter  from  the  General  Court ; 
Yale,  beginning  in  1701,  moving  about  from 
place  to  place,  was  finally  located  at  New  Haven 
in  1718  ;  William  and  Mary  College,  in  Virginia, 
had  been  chartered  by  the  crown  in  1693.  The 
middle  colonies  were  practically  destitute  of  the 
means  of  higher  education. 

The  desire  for  a  college  which  would  offer  a 
comprehensive  course  of  study  was  particularly 
strong  among  the  Presbyterians  of  this  section, 
so  that  they  might  not  only  educate  their  sons 
but-  also  in  this  way  procure  suitable  candidates 
for  the  ministry  of  their  church,  for  which  they 
were  dependent  on  New  England  or  the  old 
country.  For  this  purpose  William  and  Mary 
was  not  only  too  far  away  in  the  days  when  the 

77 


78  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

stage  coach  was  the  speediest  method  of  travel ; 
it  was  too  largely  under  Episcopalian  influence 
to  suit  the  orthodox  Calvinists  of  that  day  of 
denominational  suspicion  and  exclusiveness. 
Harvard  and  Yale  were  both  satisfactory  on  the 
score  of  orthodoxy  but  the  distance  was  too  great 
for  the  boys  of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  Dela- 
ware, New  Jersey  and  even  of  New  York. 
There  was  great  need  of  a  college  where  "  re- 
ligion and  sound  learning  should  receive  equal 
attention."  The  Presbyterians  did  not  wish  a 
theological  seminary,  but  a  school  of  high  moral 
and  religious  tone.  Religion  without  learning, 
they  said,  produces  fanaticism  ;  learning  without 
religion  produces  skepticism.  They  desired  the 
purest  Christian  doctrine  and  the  best  secular 
scholarship,  both  classical  and  scientific.  At 
that  time  there  was  a  faction  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  who  laid  the  emphasis  for  ministerial 
qualification  on  religious  experience.  Rev. 
William  Tennent  and  his  two  sons  had  opposed 
a  rule  of  the  synod  providing  that  young  men 
applying  for  licensure,  not  being  graduates  of 
college,  should  undergo  an  examination  on  the 
arts  and  sciences  before  the  synod.  Against 
this  rule  the  Tennents  protested  and  for  this 
protest  the  synod,  by  a  stretch  of  authority,  cen- 
sured them.  Thereupon  the  members  of  three 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  79 

Presbyteries  from  the  vicinity  of  New  York  with- 
drew and  formed  a  separate  synod.  The 
members  of  the  new  Synod  did  not  all  agree  with 
the  Tennents  on  the  question  of  education  ;  they 
thought  the  Philadelphia  men  had  gone  too  far 
in  condemning  the  Tennents  for  their  opinion. 
Believing  in  education  as  well  as  in  ecclesiastical 
justice  they  determined,  if  possible,  to  establish  a 
college.  The  partisans  of  fervid  piety  had 
been  alienated  from  Yale  by  the  expulsion  of 
David  Brainerd  from  that  college.  Brainerd 
was  a  religious  enthusiast  of  rare  spirit,  warm 
heart  and  strong  mind.  He  could  not  endure 
the  cold-blooded  manner  of  some  of  the  New 
Englanders.  In  a  moment  of  passion  he  told 
one  of  the  tutors  that  that  learned  gentleman 
"had  no  more  of  the  grace  of  God  than  a 
chair."  Although  he  publicly  confessed  his 
fault  he  was  promptly  expelled.  His  expulsion 
was  regarded  as  too  severe  a  punishment  and 
served  to  strengthen  the  determination  of  the 
New  York  men  to  establish  a  college  where  re- 
ligion should  not  be  discounted. 

The  Philadelphia  men  had  tried  to  establish 
a  school  at  New  London,  Pennsylvania,  but  it 
amounted  to  little  and  after  a  struggling  exist- 
ence became  what  is  now  Newark  Academy, 
Delaware.  Over  in  East  Jersey  Jonathan 


80  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

Dickinson  opened  a  private  school  at  Elizabeth 
where  he  did  his  best  to  prepare  young  men  for 
the  ministry.  Aaron  Burr  had  a  classical  school 
at  Newark,  N.  J.  These  were  private  schools 
and  did  not  meet  the  large  need.  Dickinson 
and  Burr  consulted  with  two  others,  John  Pier- 
son  and  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  as  to  the  best 
way  to  establish  a  good  college  without  any  fur- 
ther makeshifts.  Pemberton  was  the  man  to 
whom  the  Scotch  society  for  propagating  Chris- 
tian knowledge  sent  money  for  work  among  the 
Indians.  These  four  men,  not  as  representatives 
of  the  Synod,  but  on  their  own  account,  tried  to 
obtain  a  charter  for  a  college  in  New  Jersey. 
Lewis  Morris,  Governor  of  the  Province,  refused 
to  grant  one  in  1745.  Why  he  refused  is  not 
stated.  But  his  honour  had  a  hearty  dislike  for 
dissenters,  as  he  regarded  these  Presbyterians. 
The  British  Government  had  instructed  the 
Provincial  Governors  that  religious  and  educa- 
tional matters  were  under  control  of  the  Bishop 
of  London,  and  no  schoolmaster  was  to  be  per- 
mitted to  keep  school  in  the  province  without 
his  permission.  The  rule  was  not  always  en- 
forced, but  the  Governor  found  it  convenient  to 
observe  it  in  this  instance.  Thwarted  as  they 
were  in  their  good  enterprise  the  ministers  did 
not  abandon  all  hope.  Perhaps  they  felt  that 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  81 

a  college  was  predestinated.  They  waited  and 
watched.  One  fancies  that  they  did  not  lament 
sorely  when  Governor  Morris  died  on  the  2ist 
May,  1746.  It  was  not  until  the  22d  October, 
however,  that  they  renewed  their  application  to 
John  Hamilton,  who,  as  President  of  the  Pro- 
vincial council,  held  the  government  until 
King  George  should  appoint  a  new  Governor. 
The  council  promptly  granted  the  application, 
an  action  which  does  not  surprise  us  when  we 
learn  that  four  of  the  councillors  were  Presby- 
terians. 

The  charter  conferred  upon  twelve  trustees 
the  right  to  conduct  such  a  college  as  they  de- 
sired, at  the  same  time  securing  the  liberties 
and  privileges  of  other  Christian  denominations 
whose  members  might  care  to  patronize  it.  Al- 
though the  charter  was  granted  in  October, 
1 746,  the  college  was  not  advertised  until  Febru- 
ary, 1 747,  the  trustees  making  ready  their  plans 
in  the  interval.  When  all  was  ready  the  school 
of  Jonathan  Dickinson,  at  Elizabeth,  was  made 
the  foundation  of  the  new  college  and  he  be- 
came its  first  president.  The  advertisement  an- 
nounced that  students  would  be  admitted  the 
fourth  week  of  May,  1 747,  and  the  college  started 
on  its  career.  The  first  commencement  was  to 
have  been  held  in  May,  1748.  But  in  October, 


82  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

1 747,  the  president  died.  Whether  the  trustees 
took  any  immediate  steps  to  appoint  his  suc- 
cessor does  not  appear,  but  the  students  of  the 
college  went  over  to  Newark  and  there  com- 
pleted their  course  under  the  care  of  Aaron 
Burr,  one  of  the  applicants  for  the  charter. 

During  the  summer  of  1747,  the  newly  ap- 
pointed governor  of  the  province,  Jonathan 
Belcher,  arrived  in  New  Jersey,  having  had  an 
experience  of  twenty  years  as  governor  of  two 
New  England  provinces,  during  which  time  he 
had  shown  a  marked  interest  in  Harvard  Col- 
lege, where  he  had  graduated  in  1699.  The 
trustees  of  the  new  college  of  New  Jersey  were, 
therefore,  hopeful  of  his  favour.  Soon  after  his 
arrival  they  applied  for  a  new  charter,  some 
doubt  having  been  cast  upon  the  validity  of 
the  first  one,  which  had  been  granted  by  the 
president  of  the  council  without  the  assent  of 
the  Assembly  or  the  Crown.  Before  they 
should  fix  upon  a  permanent  location  for  the 
college  or  expend  money  upon  buildings,  the 
trustees  wished  to  secure  a  perfectly  valid  char- 
ter. Governor  Belcher  met  them  more  than 
half  way  and  granted  them  a  new  charter  for 
which  he  also  secured  the  sanction  of  the  Crown. 
It  could  not  be  got  ready  in  time  for  the  gradu- 
ation of  the  first  class  in  May,  1748.  Lest  the 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  83 

degrees  of  the  graduates  should  not  be  valid 
under  the  old  charter  it  was  decided,  at  the  re-, 
quest  of  the  governor  himself,  who  wished  to 
be  present  at  the  first  commencement,  to  post- 
pone it,  and  it  was  not  until  the  I4th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1 748,  that  it  was  finally  approved  ;  and 
that  is  why  the  commencement  exercises  of 
Princeton  were  held  in  the  fall  rather  than  in  the 
spring  for  more  than  sixty  years. 

The  new  charter  provided  that  the  governor 
of  the  province  should  be  ex-officio  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  To  this  proviso  the 
clergymen  objected,  lest  difficulties  might  arise 
under  governors  not  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
other  trustees,  and,  as  Jonathan  Edwards  wrote 
to  a  friend  in  Scotland,  "  Might  be  men  of  no 
religion  or  Deists."  On  this  point,  however, 
Governor  Belcher  was  firm  and  to  this  day,  the 
charter  having  been  confirmed  by  the  legisla- 
ture in  1 780,  the  governor  of  the  State  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Board.  The  college,  however,  is  not 
a  State  institution  endowed  by  public  funds  and 
is  altogether  independent  of  State  control. 

Princeton  had  been  selected  for  the  site  of  the 
college  as  early  as  1 747.  No  buildings  had  been 
erected,  however,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
school  of  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  at  Newark,  acted 
under  the  charter,  he  being  chosen  first  presi- 


84  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

dent  upon  its  being  granted.  The  first  com- 
mencement was  held  at  Newark,  November  9, 
1748,  there  being  six  graduates,  one  of  whom, 
Richard  Stockton,  was  afterwards  a  trustee  of 
the  college  and  a  colleague  of  Witherspoon  in 
the  Continental  Congress.  Some  of  the  trus- 
tees thought  New  Brunswick  a  more  desirable 
location  than  Princeton  and  tried  to  induce  the 
citizens  to  grant  land  for  the  buildings  and  the 
president's  house.  The  commencement  of  1749 
was  held  there  with  the  design  of  interesting  the 
people.  They  seemed  indifferent.  The  trus- 
tees in  1750  voted  that  "a  proposal  be  made  to 
the  towns  of  Brunswick  and  Princeton  to  try 
what  sum  of  money  they  can  raise  for  building 
of  the  college  by  the  next  meeting,  that  the 
trustees  may  be  better  able  to  judge  in  which 
of  these  places  to  fix  the  place  of  the  college." 
Again  the  next  spring  they  offer  to  locate  the 
college  in  the  town  on  the  Passaic  if  the  citizens 
will  guarantee  a  thousand  pounds,  ten  acres  of 
land  near  the  college  and  two  hundred  acres 
of  woodland  not  more  than  three  miles  away. 
The  woodland  was  wanted  to  supply  the  college 
with  fire-wood.  The  people  of  Princeton  had 
bestirred  themselves  and  came  forward  with  an 
offer.  The  treasurer  was  instructed  to  view  the 
land  at  Princeton  as  well  as  that  which  had  at 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  85 

last  been  offered  by  the  New  Brunswick  folk. 
The  latter,  however,  were  unable  to  make  a 
definite  offer.  Despite  the  preference  of  the 
trustees  for  that  place  the  energy  of  the  Prince- 
tonians  in  raising  money  and  obtaining  land 
was  such  that  finally  in  January,  1753,  it  was 
agreed  to  accept  the  offer  of  Princeton,  "  when 
Mr.  Randolph  has  given  a  deed  for  a  certain 
tract  of  land."  No  better  situation  could  have 
been  chosen.  Princeton  lay  near  the  centre  of 
the  province  of  New  Jersey  on  the  main  coach 
road  midway  between  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia. It  stands  on  high  ground  overlooking 
a  beautiful  stretch  of  country.  Sufficiently  in 
touch  with  the  traffic  and  news  of  the  day  it 
was  sufficiently  remote  to  secure  the  desirable 
quiet  of  college  life. 

Money  was  needed  for  the  erection  of  suita- 
ble buildings.  Mr.  Nathanael  Fitz  Randolph, 
who  had  given  the  land,  also  gave  twenty 
pounds  and  promised  to  obtain  subscriptions 
from  his  friends.  Governor  Belcher  wrote  to 
some  wealthy  men  of  New  England  who  con- 
tributed various  sums.  There  were  not  more 
than  a  thousand  pounds  in  the  treasury.  Peo- 
ple of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  interested 
themselves.  When  the  necessary  amount  could 
not  be  obtained  in  America  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent 


86  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

and  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  as  has  been  already 
told,  went  "  home  "  to  Great  Britain  armed  with 
letters  of  Governor  Belcher  and  others  as  well 
as  with  a  very  earnest  address  from  the  Synod 
of  New  York.  Other  letters  were  sent  to  indi- 
vidual clergymen  in  the  three  kingdoms.  The 
generous  response  of  the  people  at  "  home  " 
enabled  the  trustees  to  proceed  at  once  with  the 
building  for  the  college  and  the  President's 
house  which  were  so  far  completed  in  Septem- 
ber of  1756  that  President  Burr  arranged  to 
have  the  commencement  exercises  held  at 
Princeton  on  the  28th.  His  own  presence  was 
wanting,  for  on  the  24th  he  died.  Good  old 
Governor  Belcher,  also,  had  passed  away  on 
the  3ist  of  August.  So  appreciative  were  the 
trustees  of  his  kindness  that  they  had  proposed 
to  name  the  new  building  Belcher  Hall.  The 
governor  had  been  a  warm  admirer  of  King 
William  III,  and  requested  the  trustees  to  call 
it  Nassau  Hall  in  honour  of  the  king's  house. 
Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  colours  of  the 
house  of  Nassau,  orange  and  black,  are  the 
colours  of  Princeton  College. 

There  was  no  delay  in  choosing  another 
president.  Before  electing  any  one,  however, 
the  trustees  decided  that  "  the  salary  of  the 
president  shall  be  two  hundred  pounds  procla- 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  87 

mation  money  of  the  province,  together  with 
the  use  of  the  president's  house  and  improved 
lands  with  liberty  of  getting  his  fire-wood  on 
land  belonging  to  the  corporation."  They  then 
elected  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  famous  New 
England  preacher  and  theologian.  There  was 
some  delay  in  getting  him  released  from  his 
charge  at  Stockbridge,  so  that  he  did  not  arrive 
at  Princeton  until  early  in  February,  1765.  The 
fatality  that  seems  to  have  pursued  the  other 
presidents  overtook  him.  He  died  of  the  small- 
pox on  March  22d.  The  next  president,  Samuel 
Davies,  held  his  office  less  than  two  years.  In 
September,  1761,  Rev.  Samuel  Finley  was  in- 
troduced to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  beginning 
his  administration  without  any  further  cere- 
mony. Dr.  Finley  added  to  the  reputation  of 
the  college,  which  became  more  largely  patron- 
ized by  students  and  more  generously  favoured 
by  friends.  The  funds  increased  considerably  ; 
there  were  offers  of  money  for  the  support  of 
poor  students ;  a  Virginia  gentleman  gave  a 
hundred  pounds  towards  maintaining  a  pro- 
fessor of  Divinity,  to  which  chair  Rev.  John 
Blair  was  appointed.  Through  Richard  Stock- 
ton, one  of  the  trustees,  a  petition  for  a  grant  of 
land  was  presented  to  the  Crown,  but  it  was  re- 
fused, it  was  suspected,  through  the  influence 


88  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

of  the  Episcopalians.  The  president's  salary 
had  been  increased  from  time  to  time  until  in 
1766  it  was  four  hundred  pounds.  In  Septem- 
ber of  that  year,  Dr.  Finley  having  died  in  July, 
before  proceeding  to  the  election  of  his  suc- 
cessor, the  trustees  fixed  the  salary  at  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  with  the  usual  perqui- 
sites, and  on  the  following  day  elected  John 
Witherspoon.  I  have  already  stated  that  he 
declined  the  first  offer.  It  may  be  well  to  give 
here  more  fully  the  reasons  for  his  declination. 

The  college  had  been  founded  by  individual 
members  of  the  New  York  Synod  after  the 
separation  of  that  body  from  the  Philadelphia 
Synod.  The  members  of  the  latter  Synod  had 
held  aloof  from  the  enterprise.  In  1757  there 
was  a  reunion  of  the  two  Synods,  upon  which 
the  Philadelphia  Presbyterians  and  their  friends 
asked  for  a  share  in  the  government  of  the  col- 
lege. From  gentlemen  of  Philadelphia  and 
Lewistown,  Pennsylvania,  had  come  offers  of 
money  upon  satisfactory  assurances  involving 
this  question.  Upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Finley  it 
was  hoped  that  these  new  friends  might  have  a 
voice  in  suggesting  or  electing  the  president, 
but  the  Board  of  Trustees  proceeded  without 
them.  It  was  represented  to  Witherspoon  that 
the  Presbyterians  of  America  were  at  logger- 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  89 

heads  over  Nassau  Hall,  and  he  had  no  desire 
to  leave  the  disturbed  church  of  Scotland,  where 
he  was  a  growing  power,  for  a  new  land  and 
church  torn  by  dissensions,  the  nature  of  which 
he  did  not  fully  understand,  and  in  which  he 
might  be  the  greatest  sufferer.  His  own  feel- 
ings were  conservative ;  he  had  no  sympathy 
with  those  who  preferred  emotional  piety  to 
educated,  reasonable  orthodoxy  and  without  in- 
dicating his  reason  in  his  letter  he  simply  de- 
clined to  become  entangled  in  the  strife  of  par- 
ties in  the  American  church.  His  reasons, 
however,  were  confided  to  his  friends  and  some 
of  these  learned  that  there  was  real  unanimity 
and  peace  in  the  American  church,  that  the 
affairs  and  prospects  of  the  college  were  pros- 
perous and  all  his  fears  groundless.  His  regrets 
at  his  hasty  declination  soon  became  known  and 
the  trustees  gladly  reelected  him.  In  the  mean- 
time, however,  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  a  graduate 
of  the  college  in  1760,  who  had  also  been  a 
tutor,  had  been  elected  president,  but  with  the 
understanding  that  he  should  not  enter  upon 
his  duties  for  a  year,  there  being  strong  hopes 
of  persuading  the  Paisley  pastor  to  accept.  As 
soon  as  he  learned  that  Witherspoon  might  re- 
consider he  withdrew.  Witherspoon's  election 
was  unanimous,  all  the  friends  of  the  college  in 


90  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

both  factions  agreeing  that  his  advent  would 
settle  many  vexed  questions.  There  was  no 
man  in  America  above  the  suspicion  of  belong- 
ing to  one  or  the  other  party.  No  such  charge 
could  be  brought  against  him. 

The  college  had  been  in  existence  twenty 
years.  From  a  position  which  placed  it  little 
above  a  classical  school  it  had  now  risen  to  a 
rank  among  the  best  educational  institutions  in 
the  land.  Its  curriculum  was  almost  as  good  as 
that  of  Witherspoon's  alma  mater,  the  Univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh,  although  the  faculty  was  not 
so  large  nor  the  equipment  so  extensive.  There 
was  no  divinity  school.  Few  precedents  ham- 
pered the  new  president.  No  principal  of  a 
European  university  had  as  full  liberty  as  he. 
The  college  was  controlled  neither  by  the  gov- 
ernment nor  by  the  church,  directly,  but  by  an 
independent  board  of  trustees,  self-governing, 
self-perpetuating.  Among  the  trustees  were 
not  only  Presbyterians  who  were  in  a  majority, 
but  also  Episcopalians,  Independents  and  a 
Quaker.  Supported  by  a  reunited  church, 
governed  by  such  a  body  of  representative 
men,  a  very  promising  future  was  before  the 
college. 

The  number  of  pupils  had  increased  until  in 
1766  there  were  about  a  hundred  and  twenty, 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  91 

almost  as  many  as  there  had  been  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh  when  Witherspoon  ma- 
triculated there  twenty-five  years  before.  The 
curriculum  offered  what  seems  to  us  a  very 
narrow  range  of  study.  During  the  first  three 
years  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics  were  thor- 
oughly read.  Orations  were  delivered  by  the 
students,  both  in  Latin  and  English,  public 
speaking  being  an  art  highly  prized.  Mathe- 
matics and  the  sciences,  as  much  of  them  as 
were  known,  were  pursued  until  the  senior 
year,  which  appears  to  have  been  devoted  to 
criticism  and  review,  with  more  attention  to 
original  composition.  How  far  the  educational 
ideas  of  Princeton's  faculty  at  that  time  approxi- 
mates those  of  the  present  day  may  be  seen  in 
the  account  of  Princeton  written  by  one  of  the 
tutors  in  1766,  who  tells  us  that  "in  the  instruc- 
tion of  youth  care  is  taken  to  cherish  a  spirit  of 
liberty  and  free  inquiry  ;  and  not  only  to  permit 
but  even  to  encourage  their  right  of  private 
judgment  without  presuming  to  dictate  with  an 
air  of  infallibility,  or  demanding  an  implicit 
assent  to  the  decisions  of  the  preceptor."  Each 
class  recited  twice  a  day  and  "  always  had  free 
access  to  their  teachers."  The  day  must  have 
been  long,  beginning  at  six  with  morning 
prayers,  at  which  a  student  might  be  chosen  to 


92  JOHN  WITHERSPOON    \ 

read  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  original 
and  to  translate  it.  Except  for  an  hour  in  the 
morning,  two  at  noon  and  three  in  the  evening, 
the  boys  were  kept  at  work  upon  their  studies. 
College  athletics  there  were  none;  no  class 
matches,  no  intercollegiate  games.  Handball 
was  the  most  exhilarating  sport.  All  students 
were  required  to  board  in  the  college,  the  table 
being  supplied  by  the  steward,  who  also  fur- 
nished fire-wood  and  candles.  The  delightful 
club  life  so  characteristic  of  Princeton  to-day 
was  unknown.  Freshmen  were  required  to  run 
upon  errands  for  the  boys  of  the  three  upper 
classes,  and  otherwise  be  at  their  service,  until, 
early  in  Witherspoon's  administration  the  cus- 
tom was  broken  up  by  the  trustees.  A  demo- 
cratic spirit  prevailed  in  the  college,  patronized, 
as  it  was  most  largely,  by  boys  from  every 
rank  of  colonial  life,  into  which  few  of  the  class 
distinctions  of  the  old  country  had  been  intro- 
duced. Penalties  for  breaches  of  college  disci- 
pline were  not  the  undreaded  disorder  marks  of 
a  later  era,  but  fines  of  money  which  must  be 
paid  in  full  by  the  culprit  before  he  could  obtain 
his  degree.  The  fines,  however,  were  discon- 
tinued early  in  Witherspoon's  connection  with 
the  college,  except  where  injury  had  been  done 
to  the  property.  Suspension  or  expulsion  were 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  93 

extreme  forms  of  punishment  seldom  inflicted. 
No  cuts  were  allowed  from  prayers  or  recita- 
tion, and  the  president  alone  could  grant  leave 
of  absence.  Evening  prayers  were  made  the 
occasion  for  instruction  in  psalmody.  No  in- 
strumental music  profaned  the  walls  of  Nassau 
Hall's  chapel,  the  voices  of  men  and  boys  rising 
in  full  volume  as  they  sang  the  paraphrases  of 
the  psalms,  the  leader  catching  the  note  from 
his  tuning  fork.  Even  on  Sunday  work  must 
be  done.  Disputations  on  the  subject  of  natural 
and  revealed  religion  were  given  publicly  in  the 
chapel,  the  citizens  of  the  town  being  privileged 
to  attend,  "  in  order  to  habituate  the  boys  early 
to  face  an  assembly,  as  also  for  other  important 
and  religious  ends."  As  there  was  no  church  in 
the  town  the  citizens  attended  the  services  in 
the  chapel,  where  some  of  them  were  assigned 
pews  for  which  they  paid  a  rental. 

Examinations  were  oral,  conducted  in  the 
presence  of  the  trustees  and  such  visitors  as 
chose  to  attend,  by  the  president  and  tutors, 
and  "any  other  gentlemen  of  education  who 
shall  choose  to  be  present."  It  is  plain  that  no 
"  shenanigaging "  was  possible  in  such  an  ex- 
amination. Although  the  laws  required  every 
candidate  for  a  bachelor's  degree  to  reside  two 
whole  years  in  the  college,  any  person  might 


94  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

present  himself  for  examination,  and,  if  deemed 
worthy,  receive  a  degree  upon  payment  of  eight 
pounds  tuition  for  two  years  and  the  customary 
fees  of  graduation.  Commencement  day  in 
September  began  the  long  term  uninterrupted 
by  vacations.  Orations  and  disputations  were 
given  by  those  who  had  graduated  a  few  weeks 
before.  No  Christmas  or  Easter  recesses  broke 
the  routine,  for  these  were  popish  feasts  not 
observed  by  strict  Presbyterians.  A  short  va- 
cation in  the  spring  and  another  in  the  fall, 
neither  exceeding  two  or  three  weeks,  was  all 
the  rest  given  teachers  or  students. 

Every  student  was  required  to  pay  two  shill- 
ings sixpence  quarterly  for  the  rent  of  the 
library,  a  rule  providing  that  no  student  might 
have  the  key  of  the  library,  that  being  in  charge 
of  one  of  the  officers  of  the  college.  The  total 
expenses  averaged  about  twenty-five  pounds, 
four  for  tuition,  fifteen  for  board,  three  for 
laundry,  two  for  fire-wood  and  candles,  one  for 
room  rent,  with  six  shillings  for  contingent  ex- 
penses. 

What  pranks  the  students  played  the  minutes 
of  the  trustees  up  to  1768  do  not  record.  It  was 
found  necessary  to  lock  the  door  of  the  cupola 
and  place  the  key  in  the  charge  of  the  steward 


PRINCETON  COLLEGE  95 

whose  duty  it  was  to  ring  the  bell,  and  who 
must  permit  nobody  else  to  go  up.  Is  it  un- 
likely that  even  as  early  as  1766,  as  in  1876,  the 
boys  occasionally  rang  the  bell  at  night  or  stole 
the  clapper?  There  were  laws  forbidding 
various  offenses,  trivial  and  serious,  which 
might  disturb  the  peace  of  the  Hall  or  the 
campus,  and  occasionally  some  luckless  lad  was 
obliged  to  pay  a  fine,  which  he  did  with  good 
grace,  but  there  were  no  expulsions.  Several 
students  neglected  to  pay  their  fees,  which  led 
to  a  law  requiring  them  all  to  give  bond  in  the 
full  amount  before  they  could  enter  college. 
This  rule  was  found  too  hard  and  was  amended 
so  that  the  sophomores  paid  thirty  shillings, 
the  juniors  forty,  entrance  money.  A  senior  in 
arrears  could  not  receive  his  degree  until  all  ar- 
rears were  paid  in  full. 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  college 
and  its  student  life  gives  us  some  idea  of  the 
work  which  lay  before  the  new  president.  He 
faced  the  task  of  bringing  together  in  support 
of  the  college  two  parties  in  the  church,  formally 
united  but  still  jealous  and  watchful  of  each 
other.  The  endowment  amounted  to  less  than 
three  thousand  pounds,  only  a  small  part  of  that 
drawing  interest.  But  the  college  stood  high  in 


96  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

the  public  favour,  attracting  students  from  New 
England  in  the  North  and  the  Carolinas  in  the 
South,  as  well  as  from  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood of  New  Jersey. 


II 

PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON 

OF  Witherspoon's  advent,  Moses  Coit  Tyler 
has  written  so  well  that  I  can  do  no  better  than 
to  quote  his  words.  "His  advent  to  the  college 
over  which  he  was  to  preside  was  like  that  of  a 
prince  coming  to  his  throne.  From  the  mo- 
ment of  his  landing  in  Philadelphia  to  that  of 
his  arrival  in  Princeton,  his  movements  were  at- 
tended by  every  circumstance  that  could  mani- 
fest affection  and  homage  ;  and  on  the  evening 
of  the  day  on  which  he  made  his  entry  into 
what  was  thenceforward  to  be  his  home,  '  the 
college  edifice  was  brilliantly  illuminated ;  and 
not  only  the  whole  village  but  the  adjacent 
country,  and  even  the  province  at  large,  shared 
in  the  joy  of  the  occasion.'  It  is  pleasant  to 
know  that  in  the  six  and  twenty  years  of  public 
service  that  then  lay  before  him  in  America,  the 
person  of  whom  so  much  was  expected  not  only 
did  not  disappoint,  but  by  far  exceeded,  the  high 
hopes  that  had  thus  been  set  upon  him.  For 
once  in  this  world,  as  it  turned  out,  a  man  of  ex- 
traordinary force,  versatility,  and  charm  had 

97 


98  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

found  the  place  exactly  suited  to  give  full  swing 
and  scope  to  every  element  of  power  within 
him" 

The  inauguration  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  must 
have  been  a  very  simple  ceremony.  Dr.  Ash- 
bel  Green,  a  student  at  the  time,  tells  us  that  he 
delivered  an  address  in  Latin  on  the  Unity  of 
Piety  and  Science,  but  the  address  has  not  been 
preserved.  His  first  sermon  is  found  in  his 
published  works. 

The  first  thing  to  which  he  addressed  himself 
was  the  raising  of  money  to  pay  a  debt  upon 
the  college  and  to  increase  the  endowment.  He 
must  have  been  startled  by  the  statement  made 
to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  by  the 
trustees  in  applying  to  the  Presbytery  for  aid  at 
the  first  meeting  which  he  attended.  It  was 
frankly  stated  that  unless  something  should  be 
done  speedily  the  college  would  have  to  be 
abandoned.  So  little  ready  money  was  there, 
that  the  trustees  were  unable  to  pay  Wither- 
spoon the  one  hundred  guineas  promised  him 
for  his  expenses  in  making  the  journey  from 
Scotland,  and  the  treasurer  was  ordered  to  meet 
this  debt  with  the  first  money  that  should  come 
to  hand.  What  Witherspoon  thought  of  this 
financial  outlook  he  has  not  recorded.  No  com- 
plaint was  made.  With  characteristic  energy 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON        99 

he  took  hold  of  the  business  at  once.  Small 
legacies  were  received  occasionally  during  the 
first  few  years  and  the  friends  of  the  college 
were  active  in  collecting  funds.  The  churches 
took  collections  under  instructions  from  the 
Presbyteries  and  Synods.  By  the  year  1772 
New  Brunswick  Presbytery  had  raised  over 
three  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  with  two  hun- 
dred more  promised.  Soon  after  his  arrival, 
Dr.  Witherspoon  himself  went  to  New  England 
to  collect  money.  From  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  college,  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  now  a  minis- 
ter in  Boston,  he  received  great  help.  Pember- 
ton introduced  him  to  wealthy  friends.  As  a 
result  of  this  visit  over  a  thousand  pounds  were 
added  to  the  college  funds,  a  part  of  this 
being  at  the  personal  disposal  of  the  president, 
who  was  authorized  to  use  it  as  he  saw  fit. 
Both  before,  during  and  after  the  war  he  did 
what  not  only  every  president  of  Princeton  but 
of  every  other  American  college  has  been  ob- 
liged to  do  ;  he  travelled  far  and  wide  seeking 
money  and  students  for  the  college.  Others 
helped  him  in  this.  A  journey  to  the  Carolinas 
was  undertaken  by  Dr.  John  Rodgers,  of  New 
York,  whose  pulpit  was  supplied  by  the  trustees 
during  his  absence.  And  he  brought  back  a 
considerable  sum.  Long  Island  was  the  self- 


ioo  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

chosen  territory  of  Rev.  James  Caldwell,  whose 
activity  there  and  in  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey, 
brought  him  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the  trustees. 
Having  been  himself  elected  a  member  of  the 
board  in  1 769  he  was  authorized  to  solicit  funds 
in  Virginia ;  as  a  result  one  thousand  pounds 
were  added  to  the  treasury.  He  extended  his 
visit  to  Georgia,  but  told  the  trustees  that  owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  ready  money  in  that  province 
it  would  be  necessary  to  accept  produce,  tobacco, 
lumber  and  other  things,  which  the  people  prom- 
ised. At  his  suggestion  a  vessel  was  chartered 
and  sent  to  Georgia,  the  people  having  been  in- 
formed in  time  for  them  to  bring  their  gifts  to 
the  wharf  so  that  no  money  was  lost  by  delay. 
In  the  spring  of  1772  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  re- 
quested to  visit  the  West  Indies  and  Mr.  Charles 
Beattie,  who  will  be  remembered  as  the  man 
who  finally  secured  Witherspoon's  consent  to  ac- 
cept the  presidency,  was  appointed  to  go  with 
him.  Witherspoon  was  unable  to  go,  although 
he  prepared  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  is- 
lands. Mr.  Beattie  set  out  upon  his  journey 
but  died  in  the  Barbadoes  in  August  before  he 
had  entered  upon  his  business. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  a  member  of  every 
committee  entrusted  with  financial  matters.  In 
1772  he  and  Mr.  Halsey  were  authorized  to 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       101 

arrange  for  the  drawing  of  a  lottery  at  New 
Castle,  Delaware,  a  bond  of  fifty  thousand 
pounds  proclamation  being  given  to  Mr.  George 
Monroe  and  others,  the  proceeds  to  be  divided 
between  the  college  and  the  Presbyterian 
churches  of  New  Castle  and  Christiana  Bridge. 
This  method  of  raising  money  had  been  em- 
ployed before.  Mr.  Halsey  was  paid  fifty 
pounds  for  his  services  in  conducting  a  previ- 
ous one.  The  legislature  of  New  Jersey  refused 
several  times  to  permit  lotteries  in  that  prov- 
ince. They  were  never  very  profitable.  This 
one  gave  the  trustees  no  little  annoyance.  The 
war  came  on  before  it  was  settled.  In  1778, 
according  to  the  minutes  of  the  Board,  Mr. 
Halsey  was  ordered  "  to  prepare  a  just  state- 
ment of  the  accounts  for  the  next  meeting,"  and 
again  in  1780  he  was  ordered  to  settle  the 
lottery.  But  it  would  not  remain  settled.  A 
certain  Mr.  Geddes  who  had  drawn  a  ticket 
for  several  hundred  pounds  clamoured  for  his 
money  and  finally  agreed  to  accept  college 
bonds  for  a  less  amount  than  his  claim.  But  as 
late  as  1786  he  was  again  urging  it.  When, 
finally,  in  1791,  he  said  that  two  hundred  and 
twenty-two  pounds  were  still  due  him,  the  board 
ordered  the  clerk  to  write  him  that  so  far  from 
the  college  being  indebted  to  him  he  was  in- 


102  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

debted  to  it,  and  we  heard   no  more  of  him 
after  that. 

Until  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  finances 
of  the  college  were  in  a  fairly  prosperous  con- 
dition, little  difficulty  being  experienced  in  meet- 
ing the  expenses.  In  1771  the  trustees  felt 
justified  in  electing  a  Professor  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy,  William  C.  Houston 
being  chosen  at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds.  But  when  the  country  became  un- 
settled by  hostilities  there  was  little  money  to 
be  had.  From  1778  to  1780  the  president's 
salary  was,  at  his  suggestion,  paid  in  Conti- 
nental currency,  but  in  May,  1781,  the  Board 
ordered  that  he  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver. 
Accounts  could  not  be  kept  correctly  amid  the 
confusion  brought  on  by  the  war.  For  two  or 
three  years  the  trustees  could  not  meet.  In 
1775  a  meeting  was  held  of  which  there  is  np 
record  but  at  which  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  examine  the  treasurer's  accounts,  the  report 
of  which  was  not  finally  made  until  1 793.  Dr. 
Witherspoon  was  found  to  be  indebted  to  the 
college  about  six  hundred  and  forty-five  pounds. 
The  matter  had  been  an  annoyance  to  him  and 
to  the  trustees.  Covering  so  long  a  period 
mistakes  had  been  unavoidable.  He  asked  for 
a  new  audit  and  a  few  months  before  his  death 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       103 

the  whole  affair  was  finally  settled  with  a  bal- 
ance due  him  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
dollars.  Ugly  rumours  magnified  by  Tory 
enemies  during  and  after  the  war  had  run  over 
the  country.  At  no  time  had  the  trustees  ques- 
tioned his  honour  and  again  and  again  the 
minutes  contain  records  of  their  confidence  in 
him,  their  appreciation  of  his  devotion  and 
generosity  in  the  service  of  the  college.  So 
that  for  every  reason  they  were  very  glad  to  ex- 
onerate him  fully.  A  very  loose  and  irregular 
method  seems  to  have  been  followed  in  collect- 
ing and  disbursing  the  funds.  Donations  were 
given  sometimes  to  the  treasurer,  sometimes  to 
the  president,  sometimes  to  a  committee  of 
the  trustees.  It  was  not  until  1786  that  the 
Board  decided  that  all  money  should  pass 
through  the  treasurer's  hands,  in  order  to 
avoid  confusion  and  misunderstanding.  Some 
of  the  money  was  given  for  the  ordinary  ex- 
penses of  the  college,  some  for  special  ob- 
jects and  much  "  for  the  education  of  poor 
and  pious  youth."  A  fund  for  this  latter 
purpose  had  accumulated  from  legacies  and 
church  collections.  Personal  fees  belonging  to 
the  president  and  tutors  were  paid  to  the  treas- 
urer or  to  the  person  to  whom  they  were  due. 
The  accounts  of  this  period  are  lost,  but  every 


104  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

reference  to  them  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board 
shows  that,  while  the  college  was  well  main- 
tained, confusion  of  the  accounts  was  unavoid- 
able. Although  the  institution  was  compara- 
tively small,  the  financial  management  of  it  was 
a  burden  of  no  small  weight,  and  Witherspoon 
deserves  great  credit  not  only  for  commanding 
the  confidence  of  the  public  and  the  trustees  but 
also  for  keeping  the  college  in  a  prosperous 
condition  and  increasing  the  endowment  in 
spite  of  a  desolating  war. 

In  one  respect  the  college  resembled  a 
modern  boarding  school.  Its  single  building 
contained  the  steward's  dining-room  and 
kitchen,  the  rooms  of  the  students,  class-rooms, 
library  and  chapel.  The  president's  house  was 
a  separate  building.  Every  student  was  ex- 
pected to  live  in  college  and  board  at  the  stew- 
ard's table,  with  whom  the  trustees  made  a  con- 
tract. The  contract  of  1768  provided  that  Jon- 
athan Baldwin  the  steward,  "  should  furnish  the 
students  such  meat  and  drink,  including  small 
beer  as  had  formerly  been  served  up  to  them, 
at  the  rate  of  six  shillings  sixpence  proclama- 
tion per  week  and  should  find  and  provide  fire- 
wood and  candles  at  the  current  prices  and  keep 
a  proper  number  of  servants  for  doing  the  ordi- 
nary business,  including  the  ringing  of  the  bell, 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       105 

and  at  the  end  of  the  year  take  all  the  kitchen 
furniture  at  a  fair  price."  Each  scholar  must 
pay  the  steward  seven  pounds  half  yearly  in 
advance,  and  one  shilling  per  week  for  every 
week  of  absence  after  the  opening  of  college, 
and  be  responsible  for  any  damage  he  might  do 
to  the  steward's  property.  The  president,  Tutor 
Joseph  Berrian  and  Trustee  Richard  Stockton 
were  a  committee  for  advice  and  direction  in 
the  management  of  the  stewardship.  Mr.  Bald- 
win gave  them  trouble  the  next  year.  It  was 
found  that  he  owed  the  college  over  a  thousand 
pounds,  and  he  finally  gave  bond  and  security 
for  seven  hundred.  He  remained  in  office, 
however,  and  a  year  later  agreed  "  that  the 
galleries  (halls)  shall  be  swept  twice  a  week 
and  washed  and  sanded  once  a  month  in  the 
summer,  and  once  in  two  months  in  the  winter." 
Tuition  fees  were  paid  to  the  president  who  was 
diligent  in  keeping  an  account  of  them.  To 
him  also  was  paid  the  money  for  the  board  of 
"the  poor  and  'pious  youth "  being  educated 
for  the  ministry.  The  money  for  this  purpose 
came  from  the  Presbytery,  or  Synod,  or  from 
individuals  sometimes  in  amounts  to  be  used 
at  once,  sometimes  as  legacies  to  be  invested 
for  an  income.  Students  failed  to  pay  their 
fees  both  to  the  steward  and  to  the  president. 


106  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

It  would  require  an  expert  accountant  to  keep  a 
clear  record  of  all  these  sums,  and  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  drag  the  reader  through  their  labyrinth. 

The  selling  of  the  choice  of  rooms  had  be- 
come an  abuse  as  early  as  1771.  Upper  class- 
men adopted  the  arbitrary  custom  of  selecting 
the  best  rooms  and  ousting  the  lower  classmen 
from  them  willy-nilly.  This  abuse  was  corrected 
by  the  energy  of  Witherspoon's  personal  atten- 
tion, but  it  became  so  deeply  rooted  that  to  this 
day  the  college  law  is  evaded. 

Governor  Belcher  had  begun  the  foundation 
of  a  library  by  a  gift  of  books,  other  friends 
had  added  more.  Witherspoon  himself  had 
brought  with  him  about  three  hundred  volumes 
the  gift  of  friends  in  Scotland,  Holland,  and 
London.  New  books  were  added  from  time  to 
time.  Evidently  the  students  were  careless  in 
their  use  of  the  library.  Very  strict  rules  were 
made  by  the  librarian,  such  as  would  discourage 
the  most  zealous  student,  but  by  Witherspoon's 
direction  the  boys  learned  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  scanty  shelves  with  very  good  results. 
In  a  baccalaureate  address  he  said,  "  There  is 
no  circumstance  which  throws  this  new  country 
so  far  back  in  point  of  science  as  the  want  of 
public  libraries  where  thorough  researches 
might  be  made,  and  the  small  number  of 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       107 

learned  men  to  assist  in  making  researches 
practicable,  easy,  or  complete." 

Princeton  was  very  proud  of  its  scientific  ap- 
paratus. Two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  had 
been  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  it,  at  the 
president's  suggestion,  and  doubtless  against 
the  protest  of  some  who  thought  this  a  large 
sum  for  such  a  purpose.  Visitors  were  usually 
taken  to  see  the  apparatus,  which  John  Adams 
declared  was  the  most  complete  and  elegant  he 
had  ever  seen.  Two  orreries,  arrangements  of 
spheres  showing  the  relations  of  the  planets  to 
one  another,  were  also  exhibited.  Another 
New  England  visitor  thought  little  of  either 
library  or  scientific  equipment.  The  scientific 
spirit  was  fostered  by  Witherspoon  who  be- 
lieved in  the  broadest  and  most  liberal  edu- 
cation. 

While  recognizing  the  rights  and  responsi- 
bilities of  the  trustees  he  claimed  and  enjoyed 
the  greatest  freedom  in  his  management  of  the 
college.  They  usually  met  twice  a  year  when 
the  college  bell  was  rung  ten  minutes  to  sum- 
mon them  to  the  session.  They  usually  dined 
together.  At  first  these  dinners  were  held  at 
the  tavern  but  the  bills  grew  so  large  that  a 
rule  of  the  board  was  finally  passed  requiring 
the  steward  to  serve  the  dinner  in  the  college, 


io8  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

and  thereafter  the  trustees  continued  to  dine 
together,  a  custom  still  followed  by  them. 

The  faculty  of  the  college  was  small  in  1 766. 
When  Witherspoon  arrived  the  chair  of  Divinity 
and  Moral  Philosophy  was  filled  by  Rev.  John 
Blair.  But  as  there  was  not  enough  money  to 
support  it  he  resigned  a  year  later.  His  depar- 
ture released  some  of  the  funds  and  enabled  the 
trustees  to  increase  the  president's  salary,  with 
the  understanding  that  he  take  the  duties  for- 
merly performed  by  Professor  Blair.  Two  tutors 
assisted  the  president  and  Professor  Houston 
so  that  the  entire  teaching  force  during  Wither- 
spoon's  presidency  of  twenty-six  years  never  ex- 
ceeded four  or  at  most  five  in  any  year.  Most  of 
the  teaching  fell  to  Witherspoon.  In  1772  he  of- 
fered Hebrew  to  those  students  who  intended  to 
become  ministers,  teaching  this  in  addition  to 
the  advanced  Greek  and  Latin.  He  also 
lectured  on  Divinity,  Moral  Philosophy  and 
Eloquence.  These  lectures,  making  due  allow- 
ance for  the  nature  of  the  subjects  must  have 
been  truly  delightful.  Witherspoon  is  always 
perfectly  clear.  No  ambiguity  clouds  his  style. 
He  knows  the  subject  thoroughly  and  is  familiar 
with  all  the  literature  of  it.  The  lectures  abound 
with  quotations  and  references  to  other  writers 
and  are  lighted  with  pleasing  illustrations.  As 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       109 

they  were  not  written  in  full  they  are  not  satis- 
factory to  the  modern  reader.  The  lecture  as 
given  by  him  was  not  a  droning  deliverance, 
the  students  nervously  taking  such  notes  as 
were  possible.  It  was  rather  a  free  conversa- 
tion, the  lecturer  first  stating  his  subject  and 
his  opinion  of  it,  the  students  afterwards  ques- 
tioning him  at  their  pleasure  and  being  in  their 
turn  questioned  by  him.  In  a  modern  class- 
room such  a  method  might  subject  an  ordinary 
lecturer  to  an  endless  fire  of  questions  designed 
to  waste  time.  Nothing  of  that  sort  was  at- 
tempted with  Witherspoon,  who  never  lost  the 
respect  of  his  pupils.  They  felt  in  his  presence 
an  unembarrassed  freedom  which  never  degen- 
erated into  familiarity.  His  dignity  might  at 
first  inspire  a  freshman  with  awe,  for  he  was  the 
most  dignified  of  men,  with  a  stately  manner. 
But  that  feeling  soon  left  the  boy.  To  his 
students  he  freely  accorded  every  right.  Natu- 
rally passionate,  he  had  the  greatest  kindness  of 
heart.  A  family  tradition  relates  that  as  he  was 
leaving  the  college  building  one  morning,  a  boy 
threw  from  a  window  a  basin  of  water  intended 
for  a  fellow  student  who  was  just  about  to 
emerge  from  the  door  but  who  drew  back  to  let 
the  president  pass  out.  The  water  drenched 
the  doctor's  new  coat,  to  the  dismay  of  the 


no  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

youngster  who,  having  leaned  from  the  window 
to  see  the  effect  upon  his  mate,  was  recognized. 
He  retreated  at  once  to  his  room.  Witherspoon 
called  upon  him  and,  the  door  being  opened  by 
the  frightened  culprit,  remarked,  "  D'ye  see, 
young  man,  how  ye  wet  my  new  coat?"  That 
was  all.  Of  course  the  boy  went  to  the  presi- 
dent's house  and  apologized  for  his  uninten- 
tional act,  which  was  nevertheless  a  breach  of 
college  law.  It  was  not  reported,  however ;  the 
boy  was  forgiven  and  was  forever  a  devoted 
admirer  of  Witherspoon.  James  Madison,  who 
graduated  in  1771  testifies  to  Witherspoon's 
character  as  at  once  strong  and  gentle.  Long 
after  graduation  his  students  endeavoured  to 
keep  in  touch  with  him.  Those  who  had  been 
employed  as  his  secretary,  writing  letters  for 
him  and  attending  to  some  minor  details  of  col- 
lege business  by  his  direction,  spoke  warmly  of 
his  consideration  and  kindness.  This  was  es- 
pecially the  case  in  the  later  years  of  his  life 
when  his  eyesight  had  become  impaired.  No 
president  of  Princeton  ever  won  the  personal  at- 
tachment of  his  students  as  did  John  Wither- 
spoon unless  we  may  except  John  McLean  and 
James  McCosh. 

Besides   doing   his  work   in   the  college  he 
preached  every  Sunday  in  the  chapel,  long  ser- 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       in 

mons,  one  in  the  morning,  the  other  in  the  after- 
noon. The  Sunday  that  John  Adams  spent  in 
Princeton  in  August,  1774,  he  records  in  his 
diary,  he  "heard  Dr.  Witherspoon  all  day,"  a 
remark  which  may  have  been  nearer  the  truth 
than  Adams  intended. 

There  were  no  first-class  preparatory  schools 
in  the  American  colonies  in  those  days.  Many 
clergymen  conducted  classical  schools  in  con- 
nection with  their  churches,  which  afterwards 
became  fine  academies.  The  public  school  was 
far  in  the  future.  Those  private  academies  did 
most  of  the  work  of  preparing  boys  for  college. 
The  preparation  was  not  always  well  done. 
Schoolmasters  who  taught  the  parochial  school 
attached  to  many  a  Presbyterian  church,  while 
not  expected  to  send  boys  up  to  college,  some- 
times chose  to  put  extra  time  upon  some  promis- 
ing pupils.  But  many  of  the  boys  who  came 
up  to  Princeton  were  deficient  even  in  reading 
and  spelling.  So  serious  was  the  fault  that  in 
1774  Witherspoon  addressed  a  public  letter  to 
schoolmasters,  both  in  America  and  the  West 
Indies,  urging  them  to  be  more  careful  in  the 
preparation  of  students,  specifying  the  text- 
books best  adapted  to  a  course  looking  to 
Princeton.  There  was,  as  yet,  no  printed  annual 
catalogue  of  the  college,  indicating  require- 


H2  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

merits  for  entrance.  Boys  were  expected  to  be 
well-grounded  in  the  rudiments  of  English  and 
mathematics ;  to  be  able  to  read  Latin  readily, 
having  gone  through  Caesar,  Virgil  and  Cicero, 
perhaps  further.  A  knowledge  of  Greek  was 
also  essential. 

During  the  first  eight  years  the  college  grew 
rapidly  in  the  number  of  its  students  who  came 
from  every  part  of  America.  Witherspoon's 
fame  added  to  Princeton's  repute  and  his  grad- 
uates sent  up  more  students  and  encouraged 
gifts  of  money.  The  trustees  were  beginning 
to  enlarge  the  faculty.  Then  the  war  came  on. 
As  early  as  the  fall  of  1775  there  was  a  noticea- 
ble decrease  of  students.  Troops  on  their  way 
to  Boston  during  the  summer  were  quartered 
in  and  around  the  college.  From  these,  if  not 
from  Witherspoon  himself,  the  boys  caught  the 
military  spirit,  some  of  them  enlisting.  In  the 
fall  of  1775  there  was  not  a  quorum  of  the 
trustees  present  to  transact  business  and  confer 
the  degrees,  but  those  who  were  there  passed 
such  measures  as  were  necessary,  trusting  that 
a  future  meeting  would  approve  them.  Nor 
was  it  possible  to  hold  a  meeting  in  the  fall  of 
1776,  but  they  adjourned  for  a  month,  only  to 
find  that  the  invasion  of  the  province  by  the 
British  kept  the  members  away.  Witherspoon 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       113 

himself  was  obliged  to  flee  for  his  life.  His  ex- 
perience is  preserved  in  a  letter  to  his  son  writ- 
ten from  Baltimore  in  January,  1777.  In  a 
letter  to  his  son-in-law,  Rev.  S.  S.  Smith,  in 
whose  Virginia  school  the  young  David  With- 
erspoon  was  teaching,  he  had  given  one  ac- 
count. In  this  letter  he  says,  "  I  gave  a  very 
full  and  particular  account  of  our  flight  from 
Princeton  and  the  situation  of  your  mother  as 
well  as  myself.  She  is  at  Pequa  (the  home  of 
Rev.  Robert  Smith,  father  of  S.  S.)  I  hope  well, 
but  I  have  not  heard  from  that  place  since  I  left 
her.  We  carried  nothing  away  of  all  our  effects 
but  what  could  be  carried  upon  one  team.  Ben- 
jamin Hawkins  drove  your  mother  in  the  old 
chair  and  I  rode  the  sorrel  mare  and  made  John 
Graham  drive  the  four  young  colts."  His  ex- 
perience was  similar  to  that  of  many  other  Jer- 
sey men.  The  trustees  of  the  college,  determined 
to  have  a  meeting,  assembled  at  Cooper's  Ferry 
on  the  Delaware  in  May,  1777.  Governor  Liv- 
ingston, ex-officio  president  of  the  Board,  found 
time  to  be  present.  With  him  were  eleven  others 
and  Dr.  Witherspoon,  now  a  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress.  He  told  the  trustees 
that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  on  the  college. 
When  Washington's  army,  retreating  from  New 
York,  had  passed  through  Princeton  in  Decem- 


H4  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

her,  1776,  the  soldiers  had  found  in  the  students' 
rooms  softer  beds  than  had  been  their  lot  for 
many  a  day,  nor  did  they  hesitate  to  use  them. 
Their  example  was  followed  by  the  Hessians 
and  British  who  were  in  close  pursuit  of  them. 
On  their  return  the  next  January  while  there 
was  little  time  to  stop  for  rest,  the  Continental 
troops  drove  the  soldiers  of  Cornwallis  out  of 
the  college  and  as  quickly  departed  themselves, 
ragged,  cold  and  footsore,  but  triumphant,  for 
they  had  slipped  out  of  a  trap  and  won  a  nota- 
ble victory.  By  the  cannonading  the  building 
had  been  so  badly  damaged  as  to  be  unfit  for 
use.  All  that  the  trustees  could  do  was  to  ap- 
point a  committee  to  attend  to  such  repairs  as 
were  absolutely  necessary,  while  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  should  collect  as  many  students  as  possi- 
ble and  either  instruct  them  himself  or  get  some 
assistance.  He  was  also  requested  to  ask  the 
Congress  to  forbid  the  quartering  of  troops  in 
the  college.  By  the  next  year  it  was  possible 
to  hold  a  meeting  at  Princeton,  although  some 
of  the  trustees  were  detained  by  the  enemy  in 
their  homes,  one  of  them  being  shut  up  in 
Philadelphia,  which  was  then  in  possession  of 
the  British.  The  legislature  of  New  Jersey  was 
requested  to  confirm  the  charter  of  the  college 
with  some  desirable  changes,  and  to  exempt 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       115 

t 

the  students  from  military  duty,  which  was 
done.  Such  good  prospects  were  there  of  doing 
the  work  of  the  college  that  advertisements 
were  inserted  in  the  New  Jersey,  Fishkill  and 
Lancaster  newspapers,  stating  that  "due  at- 
tendance will  be  given  to  the  instruction  of 
youth  in  the  college  after  the  tenth  day  of 
May."  For  a  year  and  a  half  Witherspoon  and 
Professor  Houston  were  able  to  teach  their 
classes  in  the  badly  damaged  building,  waiting 
for  their  salaries  until  the  trustees  could  collect 
money  to  pay  them.  At  the  commencement  of 
September,  1779,  there  were  six  graduates. 
Thereafter  the  classes  were  held  together. 

From  Virginia,  where  he  had  been  at  the 
head  of  an  academy,  which  afterwards  grew 
into  Hampden-Sidney  College,  came  S.  S.  Smith 
to  take  the  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy.  This  ad- 
dition to  the  faculty  was  made  possible  by  the 
generosity  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  who  offered  to 
divide  his  salary  with  the  new  professor  and  to 
give  him  the  president's  house  while  Wither- 
spoon went  to  live  upon  his  farm,  about  a  mile 
north  of  Princeton,  where  he  had  built  a  com- 
fortable house.  In  accepting  this  generous  offer 
the  trustees  agreed  to  permit  Dr.  Witherspoon, 
Professor  Houston  and  Professor  Smith  to  di- 
vide the  tuition  money  among  them  for  the 


n6  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

coming  year.  At  the  end  of  that  time  they 
added  two  hundred  pounds  to  Professor  Smith's 
salary.  For  two  years  during  the  war  the  presi- 
dent's salary  had  been  paid  in  the  depreciated 
Continental  currency,  but  in  1781  the  trustees 
decided  that  he  should  be  paid  in  gold  and 
silver.  Such  generosity  as  is  shown  in  these 
acts  of  Witherspoon  won  the  cordial  apprecia- 
tion of  the  trustees  and  of  other  friends  of  the 
college.  Some  of  these  gave  their  notes  for 
money  to  be  used  in  repairing  the  college 
building  and  in  meeting  the  necessary  ex- 
penses. It  was  difficult  to  recover  the  funds  of 
the  college  which  had  been  placed  in  the  Con- 
tinental Loan  office  during  the  war  and  With- 
erspoon was  ordered  to  compound,  or  to  sell 
the  certificates  to  the  best  advantage. 

In  the  disturbed  period  of  the  war  Wither- 
spoon had  assumed  the  responsibility  of  pro- 
viding teachers,  but  when  peace  came  he  re- 
quested the  trustees  to  resume  that  duty.  But 
he  agreed  to  continue  to  pay  half  of  Professor 
Smith's  salary  as  long  as  he  shall  remain  in 
the  college.  Up  to  this  time  there  had  been 
no  faculty  organization  in  which  the  govern- 
ment of  the  college  was  vested,  all  authority 
apparently  resting  with  the  president.  Disci- 
pline was  seldom  administered.  The  minutes  of 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       117 

the  Board  make  no  mention  of  the  system  of 
fines  formerly  in  operation.  But  there  are  ac- 
counts of  three  cases  of  insubordination  among 
the  students.  The  first  of  these  had  some  po- 
litical significance.  In  December,  1773,  Paul 
Revere  had  ridden  post-haste  through  the  town 
bearing  to  Burlington  and  Philadelphia  the 
news  of  the  Boston  tea  party.  Of  the  crowd 
that  gathered  about  the  tavern  door  no  doubt  a 
goodly  number  were  students  who  listened 
eagerly  to  the  stirring  story.  They  sent  the 
courier  on  his  way  with  a  cheer,  bidding  him 
Godspeed,  and  then  set  about  the  usual  way 
employed  by  college  students  to  show  their  en- 
thusiasm and  their  sympathy.  Boston  folk  had 
set  them  a  worthy  example  in  burning  an  effigy 
of  the  stamp  collector  and  the  devil ;  New 
Yorkers  seizing  Governor  Colden's  coach  had 
placed  in  it  the  figure  of  an  imp  and  burned  it 
before  the  governor's  residence.  Princeton 
students  needed  no  better  examples.  An  effigy 
of  Hutchinson,  royal  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
was  soon  ready.  The  boys  formed  a  procession, 
marched  through  the  town  and  on  to  the  campus, 
where  a  spirited  oration  was  made.  Probably 
John  Dickinson's  song  of  Liberty  was  sung,  and 
the  whole  hideous  figure  set  on  fire.  Such  con- 
duct was  scarcely  a  breach  of  college  discipline 


n8  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

— not  being  directed  against  any  of  the  college 
authorities.  Witherspoon  himself  did  not  inter- 
fere nor  reprimand  the  students,  but  Richard 
Stockton,  one  of  the  trustees  of  whom  we  have 
heard  before  and  shall  hear  again,  one  of  the 
finest  men  in  the  province  of  New  Jersey  and  a 
high-minded  patriot,  felt  it  his  duty  to  stop  the 
unlawful  proceeding,  for  it  was  unlawful,  and 
might  get  not  only  the  boys  but  the  college 
authorities  into  trouble.  But  when  Mr.  Stock- 
ton undertook  to  remonstrate  with  the  excited 
young  patriots  and  put  a  stop  to  their  serious 
sport,  one  of  the  students,  Samuel  Leake,  dared 
to  accuse  him  of  cowardice  and  even  of  treason 
to  the  patriot  cause ;  and  upon  Mr.  Stockton's 
rebuking  him  for  using  such  language,  and  en- 
deavouring to  send  the  students  away,  young 
Leake  promptly  took  him  by  the  shoulders  and 
hustled  him  off  the  campus,  telling  him  to  go 
about  his  business.  Needless  to  say  his  dignity 
was  ruffled.  If  he  reported  the  affair  to  the 
president  of  the  college  we  have  no  record  of  it. 
At  all  events  Dr.  Witherspoon  failed  to  ad- 
minister any  rebuke  or  inflict  any  punishment. 
On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Samuel  Leake,  being 
one  of  the  best  students  in  the  class  of  1774  and 
an  orator  of  college  reputation,  was  awarded 
the  salutatory  for  the  commencement  exercises. 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       119 

Such  appointments,  however,  must  receive  the 
approval  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  when  Mr. 
Stockton  told  his  story  and  protested  against 
the  honour  being  bestowed  upon  Leake,  the 
trustees  refused  to  sanction  the  award,  although 
they  permitted  him  to  graduate.  The  account 
is  interesting  because  it  throws  a  side  light  upon 
Witherspoon's  sympathies. 

The  second  case  was  entirely  different  in  its 
nature  and  occurred  in  1787.  Seven  luckless 
seniors  having  refused  to  prepare  the  pieces 
assigned  for  commencement  were  called  before 
the  board  and  ordered  to  ask  the  pardon  of 
that  body  and  of  the  faculty.  They  were  then 
sentenced  to  "be  reprimanded  by  the  president 
in  the  presence  of  the  whole  college."  More- 
over they  were  refused  permission  to  pronounce 
any  honorary  oration  at  commencement.  Not 
long  afterwards  a  rule  was  made  forbidding  any 
student  to  speak  before  his  oration  had  been 
passed  upon  by  the  faculty.  And  when  some 
of  the  boys  inserted  in  their  commencement  de- 
liverances some  sentences  which  had  not  been 
found  in  the  manuscript  submitted  for  inspec- 
tion the  trustees  made  a  rule  that  such  conduct 
would  deprive  the  offender  of  his  degree. 

A  third  instance  can  hardly  be  called  an  act 
of  insubordination,  yet  shows  the  necessity  for 


120  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

some  authority  in  the  hands  of  the  faculty.  In 
the  summer  of  1 783  a  Frenchman  had  gathered 
a  dancing  class  at  Princeton,  many  of  the  stu- 
dents joining.  It  proved  disastrous  to  disci- 
pline and  interfered  with  the  college  work. 
Since  coming  to  America  Witherspoon  had  not 
changed  his  mind  as  to  the  evil  effects  of 
amusements.  And  it  was  plain  that  attending 
the  dancing  class  involved  some  of  the  boys  in 
more  expense  than  they  ought  to  incur,  not 
only  for  the  dancing  lessons  but  for  the  jolly 
suppers  which  followed.  The  class  was  held  at 
the  tavern  where  the  boys  were  tempted  to 
drink  too  freely.  After  the  late  hours  so  spent 
they  came  to  their  recitations  the  next  day  with 
sadly  muddled  ideas  about  Greek  construction 
and  moral  philosophy,  the  effect  of  too  much 
wine  and  too  little  sleep.  The  reputation  of 
the  college  suffered  by  the  tales  of  these  mid- 
night gaieties.  They  were  regarded  by  the 
faculty  and  trustees  as  "circumstances  very 
unfriendly  to  the  order  and  good  government 
of  the  institution."  Looking  upon  "a  dancing 
school  as  useless  to  them  in  point  of  manners, 
they  being  generally  past  that  period  of  youth 
in  which  the  manners  are  formed,"  the  board 
forbade  the  students  to  attend  the  dancing 
school 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       121 

Such  cases  having  arisen  the  board,  at  the 
meeting  in  the  fall  of  1788,  formally  vested  in 
the  faculty  the  government  of  the  college 
"  whose  authority  should  extend  to  every  part 
of  the  discipline  of  the  college  except  the  ex- 
pulsion of  a  student  which  shall  not  take  place 
unless  by  order  of  the  board  or  six  of  them  con- 
vened and  consenting  thereto." 

Two  years  later  this  authority  was  tested  by 
Mr.  Robert  Stockton,  who  complained  by  letter 
to  the  trustees,  "  that  his  son,  Job  Stockton,  had 
received  personal  violence  and  abuse  from 
Dr.  Smith  in  a  cruel  and  illegal  manner  and 
had  been  sent  from  the  institution  in  an  arbi- 
trary and  unprecedented  manner."  After  hear- 
ing all  parties  in  the  case  the  trustees  sustained 
Dr.  Smith  as  quite  within  bounds  in  dealing 
with  the  young  man  "  as  so  high  an  offense 
merited." 

The  government  of  the  college  gave  the 
Board  less  trouble  than  the  raising  of  money  to 
meet  expenses.  This  was  far  more  difficult 
after  the  war.  The  endowment  of  the  college 
had  suffered  the  loss  of  funds  in  the  Continental 
Loan  office,  by  the  depreciation  of  the  paper 
currency  and  by  the  general  financial  depression 
following  the  war.  It  was  almost  impossible  to 
collect  debts.  The  courts  were  in  confusion. 


122  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

There  was  no  source  of  national  revenue.  Busi- 
ness was  timid  in  the  uncertainty  of  laws  gov- 
erning both  foreign  and  domestic  trade.  Those 
who  had  hoarded  gold  and  silver  used  it  spar- 
ingly. Nevertheless,  as  before,  so  now,  With- 
erspoon  indefatigably  set  to  work  to  raise 
money.  So  successful  was  he  that  in  the  ten 
years  following  the  war  more  than  twelve  thou- 
sand dollars  were  added  to  the  funds  of  the 
college,  truly  a  marvellous  sum  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. And  yet  it  was  not  sufficient, 
although  it  brought  the  endowment  up  to 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  By  1784  it  became 
imperatively  necessary  that  something  should 
be  done.  No  friend  of  the  college  had  been 
more  generous  than  Witherspoon  himself. 
Half  of  his  salary  had  been  relinquished  to  keep 
Professor  Smith  in  the  chair  of  Moral  Philoso- 
phy ;  the  expenses  of  many  a  poor  student  had 
be"en  borne  by  him.  Of  course  he  expected  to 
be  reimbursed  from  the  fund  for  educating  poor 
and  pious  youth,  but  he  was  greatly  imposed 
upon.  He  frequently  obligated  himself  for  the 
tuition  and  boarding  of  a  student  who  never 
paid  the  debt.  So  flagrant  became  the  abuse 
of  his  good  nature  that  he  was  obliged  to  notify 
the  public  through  the  newspapers  that  he 
should  not  comply  with  requests  to  advance 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       123 

money  to  the  students  or  make  himself  respon- 
sible for  them  in  any  way.  Friends  of  the  boys 
sometimes  bought  articles  of  clothing  expecting 
Witherspoon  to  pay  for  them  out  of  what  they 
seemed  to  regard  as  an  unlimited  fund  for 
maintaining  needy  scholars.  Among  the 
papers  in  my  possession  is  the  following  note : 

2^  yards  of  corduroy  @ $2.20       £4.95 

2  pair  of  stockings 2.80 

i  yard  of  linen .75 

$8.50 

Doctr  Witherspoon, 
SIR: 

I  have  bought  the  above  Articles  for 
my  Br  John  Blair,  and  when  Mr.  Sam1  Smith 
was  in  Town  he  desired  me  to  call  on  you  for 
the  money  which  you  will  please  to  be  so  kind 
as  to  leave  with  Mrs.  Irwin  and  oblige  Sir  your 
Humble 

Serv1, 

BETSY  BLAIR. 

• 

Many  a  poor  boy  owed  his  education  to 
Witherspoon's  generosity.  He  broke  his  own 
rules  when  to  keep  them  would  deprive  a  boy 
of  his  education.  But  he  could  not  afford  to 
carry  such  a  heavy  burden  as  was  laid  upon  him. 
He  bore  expenses  for  which  the  trustees  were  not 
directly  liable  and  they  testified  to  his  magna- 
nimity on  several  occasions.  His  own  private 


i24  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

fortune  while  not  large  was  enough  to  maintain 
him  in  a  manner  befitting  his  position.  But  the 
college  itself  was  sorely  in  need  of  funds  to  re- 
pair the  damaged  building  and  to  carry  on  the 
work. 

Before  the  war  there  had  been  many  friends 
of  Princeton  in  Great  Britain  who  had  contrib- 
uted generously  to  the  college.  At  an  extra 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  October, 
1783,  the  suggestion  was  made  that  perhaps 
these  former  friends  and  others  abroad  might 
help  them  out  of  their  difficulties.  It  was  hoped 
that  Witherspoon's  popularity  at  least  in  Scot- 
land had  survived  the  bitterness  of  the  struggle 
by  which  Great  Britain  had  lost  her  American 
colonies.  During  the  war  many  Englishmen 
and  Scotchmen  had  openly  avowed  their  friend- 
ship for  America,  their  belief  in  the  justice  of  her 
claims.  Even  if  Scotch  newspapers  had  called 
Witherspoon  such  names  as  knave,  fool  and 
traitor,  his  experiences  during  the  excitement 
that  followed  the  publication  of  the  "  Character- 
istics "  thirty-five  years  before,  seemed  to  show 
that  these  were  the  words  of  enemies  and  his 
friends  were  numerous.  Besides,  his  corre- 
spondence brought  him  assurances  of  friendship 
and  continued  interest  in  his  career.  Others 
among  the  trustees  cherished  the  belief  that  those 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       125 

who  had  sympathized  with  America  would  re- 
spond to  an  appeal  from  the  college  to  help  them 
restore  it  and  continue  the  work.  As  we  look 
at  it  now,  we  wonder  how  they  could  have  per- 
suaded themselves  into  such  a  belief.  But  they 
did,  and  the  trustees  permitted  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  and  General  Reed,  who  had  commanded 
the  Pennsylvania  line  during  the  war  and  was 
president  of  the  Assembly  of  his  state,  to  go  to 
Europe  to  solicit  subscriptions.  General  Reed 
generously  offered  to  bear  his  own  expenses  and 
Mr.  Bayard  and  Mr.  Snowden  advanced  the 
money  to  pay  Dr.  Witherspoon's.  There  was 
no  money  in  the  college  treasury.  The  mission, 
it  is  needless  to  say,  was  worse  than  a  failure. 
It  exposed  the  college  to  unkindly  criticism. 
It  was,  indeed,  felt  by  some  of  the  American 
patriots  to  be  a  disgrace.  Witherspoon  through 
a  friend  applied  to  Franklin  and  Jay  asking  for 
letters  of  recommendation  and  approval  to  their 
friends.  Franklin  replied,  "The  very  request 
would  be  disgraceful  to  us  and  hurt  the  credit 
of  responsibility  we  wish  to  maintain  in  Europe 
by  representing  the  United  States  as  too  poor 
to  provide  for  the  education  of  their  own  chil- 
dren. For  my  part  I  am  persuaded  we  are  fully 
able  to  furnish  our  colleges  amply  with  every 
means  of  public  instruction  and  I  cannot  but 


126  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

wonder  that  our  legislatures  have  generally 
paid  so  little  attention  to  a  business  of  so  great 
importance.  Our  circumstance  in  the  applica- 
tion here  made  me  somewhat  ashamed  for  our 
country.  Being  asked  what  sums  had  been 
subscribed  or  donations  made  by  signers  to  a 
paper  I  was  obliged  to  reply  only  one." 

John  Jay  wrote,  "  While  our  country  remained 
part  of  the  British  Empire  there  was  no  impro- 
priety in  soliciting  the  aid  of  our  distant 
brethren  and  fellow  subjects  for  any  liberal  and 
public  purpose.  It  was  natural  that  the  younger 
branches  of  the  political  family  should  request 
and  expect  the  assistance  of  the  elder.  But  as 
the  United  States  neither  have  nor  can  have 
such  relations  with  any  nations  in  the  world,  as 
the  rank  they  hold  and  ought  to  assert  implies 
ability  to  provide  for  all  the  ordinary  objects  of 
their  government,  and  as  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  a  republican  people  is  and 
ought  to  be  one  of  the  constant  and  most  im- 
portant of  those  objects,  I  cannot  think  it  con- 
sistent with  the  dignity  of  a  free  and  independ- 
ent people  to  solicit  donations  for  that  or  any 
other  purpose  from  the  subjects  of  any  Prince  or 
state  whatever." 

Witherspoon  was  much  depressed  by  the 
failure,  more  particularly  by  the  sense  of  aliena- 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       127 

tion  from  his  former  friends  in  Great  Britain,  al- 
though some  of  these  wrote  him  most  kindly 
regretting  his  mission  and  sympathizing  with 
him  in  his  disappointment.  To  us  it  is  astonish- 
ing that  he  should  permit  the  trustees  to  per- 
suade him  or  himself  to  cherish  the  idea  that  his 
request  would  be  agreeable  or  even  his  pres- 
ence acceptable  to  many  in  Scotland.  Five 
pounds  was  the  munificent  sum  remaining  after 
the  expenses  of  the  trip  had  been  paid. 

The  commencement  of  September,  1783,  was 
probably  the  most  memorable  in  Witherspoon's 
administration.  The  Continental  Congress  had 
been  in  session  at  Philadelphia  endeavouring  to 
hit  upon  some  measures  for  raising  money  to 
pay  the  soldiers  who  had  helped  to  win  the  in- 
dependence which  the  colonies  enjoyed.  Some 
of  these  soldiers  were  in  the  city  and  wished  to 
hurry  the  deliberations  of  the  Congress,  which 
they  did  with  such  good  effect  that,  disturbed 
by  the  threats  of  the  soldiers,  the  dignified  dele- 
gates took  horse  and,  at  Witherspoon's  request, 
fled  to  the  quiet  shades  of  Princeton,  where 
they  might  continue  their  discussions  in  peace. 
On  commencement  day  the  Congress  adjourned 
to  attend  the  exercises.  Gen.  George  Wash- 
ington was  also  present,  as  was  likewise  an 
English  officer  who  had  received  permission  to 


128  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

go  through  the  lines  to  travel  for  a  while  before 
the  British  troops  finally  evacuated  New  York. 
He  was  treated  with  every  possible  courtesy, 
and  from  his  letter  to  a  friend  we  have  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  scene.  Of  course  Washington  had 
the  seat  of  honour.  The  letter  is  so  interesting 
for  so  many  reasons  that  I  insert  here  that  por- 
tion of  it  which  refers  to  Witherspoon  and  the 
commencement : 

"  DR.  WETHERSPOON. — An  account  of  the 
present  face  of  things  in  America  would  be 
very  defective,  indeed,  if  no  mention  was  made 
of  this  political  firebrand,  who  perhaps  had  not 
a  less  share  in  the  Revolution  than  Washington 
himself.  He  poisons  the  minds  of  his  students, 
and  through  them,  the  Continent. 

"  He  is  the  intimate  friend  of  the  General,  and 
had  I  no  other  arguments  to  support  my  ideas 
of  Washington's  designs,  I  think  his  intimacy 
with  a  man  of  so  different  a  character  of  his 
own  (for  Washington's  private  one  is  perfectly 
amiable),  would  justify  my  suspicions. 

"The  commencement  was  a  favourable  op- 
portunity of  conveying  certain  sentiments  to 
the  public  at  large  (for  even  women  were  pres- 
ent) which  it  now  becomes  important  to  make 
them  familiar  with.  This  farce  was  evidently 
introductory  to  the  drama  that  is  to  follow. 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       129 

The  great  maxim  which  this  commencement 
was  to  establish,  was  the  following  :  '  A  time 
may  come  with  every  republic,  and  that  may 
be  the  case  with  America,  when  anarchy  makes 
it  the  duty  of  the  man  who  has  the  majority  of 
the  people  with  him,  to  take  the  helm  into  his 
own  hands  in  order  to  save  his  country ;  and 
the  person  who  opposes  him  deserves  the  utmost 
revenge  of  his  nation — deserves — to  be  sent  to 
Nova  Scotia.  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei/1 

"  These  were  the  very  words  of  the  moderator, 
who  decided  on  the  question  was  Brutus  justi- 
fiable in  killing  Caesar.  Or  they  thought  us  all 
that  heard  them  blockheads,  or  they  were  not 
afraid  of  avowing  their  designs.  This  was 
plainer  English  still  than  the  confederation  of 
the  Cincinnati. 

"When  the  young  man  who,  with  a  great 
deal  of  passionate  claquere,  defended  his  favour- 
ite Brutus,  extolled  the  virtues  of  the  man  who 
could  stab  even  his  father,  when  attempting  the 
liberties  of  his  country,  I  thought  I  saw  Wash- 
ington's face  clouded  ;  he  did  not  dare  to  look 
the  orator  in  the  face,  who  stood  just  before 
him,  but,  with  downcast  look,  seemed  wishing 
to  hide  the  impression  which  a  subject  that 
touched  him  so  near,  had,  I  thought,  very  visi- 
bly made  in  his  countenance.  But  we  are  so 


I3o  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

apt  to  read  in  the  face  what  we  suppose  passes 
in  the  heart,  maybe  that  this  was  the  case  with 
me.  But  if  ever  what  I  expect  should  happen, 
I  shall  think  that  moment  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting ones  of  my  life. 

"  The  orations  of  the  younger  boys  were  full 
of  the  coarsest  invectives  against  British  tyranny. 
I  will  do  Mr.  Wetherspoon  the  justice  to  think 
he  was  not  the  author  of  them,  for  they  were 
too  poor,  indeed ;  besides,  they  evidently  con- 
veyed different  sentiments;  there  was  one  of 
them  not  unfavourable  to  liberal  sentiments 
even  towards  Britons.  But  upon  the  whole,  it 
is  but  just  to  suppose  that  Wetherspoon  had 
read  them  all." 

At  this  meeting  of  the  trustees  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  was  requested  to  ask  Washington  to  sit 
for  his  portrait  to  be  painted  by  the  well-known 
artist,  Charles  Wilson  Peale,  "and  that  his 
portrait  when  finished  be  placed  in  the  hall  of 
the  college  in  the  room  of  the  picture  of  the  late 
king  of  Great  Britain  which  was  torn  away  by  a 
ball  from  the  American  artillery  in  the  battle  of 
Princeton."  Washington  promised  to  accede 
to  the  request  and  his  full-length  portrait  now 
hangs  upon  the  south  wall  of  the  hall,  in  a  room 
at  present  used  as  a  museum  of  natural  history, 
in  which  are  also  hung  the  portraits  of  the 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       131 

presidents  of  the  college.  When  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  reported  to  the  trustees  that  Washington 
would  grant  their  request  he  added  that  the 
general  had  also  given  him  fifty  guineas  for  the 
college. 

After  the  disheartening  failure  of  the  European 
mission  a  very  strong  plea  was  made  to  the 
American  Presbyterian  Church  which  was,  after 
all,  the  best  hope  and  surest  support  of  the  col- 
lege. A  little  money  was  realized  from  the  sale 
of  Rocky  Hill  lots  and  of  land  in  Philadelphia, 
the  legacy  of  Dr.  William  Shippen,  a  warm 
friend  of  the  college.  But  as  long  as  Wither- 
spoon  lived  and  for  many  years  afterwards  the 
most  perplexing  question  for  the  trustees  was 
how  to  raise  money  enough.  No  college  then  or 
in  our  own  day  has  always  been  fully  maintained 
by  the  fees  of  the  students.  So  that  endowments 
whose  income  is  intended  for  the  maintenance 
of  needy  students  does  not  greatly  increase  the 
efficiency  of  the  college  equipment  or  assist  in 
the  support  of  the  teaching  force.  A  generous 
legacy  from  a  certain  Leslie  for  this  purpose, 
while  welcomed  by  the  church  and  the  college 
did  not  help  the  solution  of  the  financial  prob- 
lem. In  order  to  avoid  confusion,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  trustees,  in  1786,  finally  made  a 
rule  that  all  money  should  pass  through  the 


i32  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

treasurer's  hands,  he  to  receive  all  fees,  rents, 
donations  and  legacies  and  pay  all  bills,  the 
salaries  of  the  officers  first  of  all.  Thereafter 
the  financial  affairs  of  the  college  appeared  in 
better  order. 

One  of  the  causes  of  annoyance  had  been  the 
necessity  of  renewing  the  furniture  in  the  stu- 
dents' rooms,  which  had  been  originally  pro- 
vided by  the  college.  The  first  step  towards 
bringing  this  detail  into  some  shape  was  taken 
in  1789,  by  the  appointment  of  an  inspector  of 
rooms,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  take  account 
of  the  furniture  in  each  room,  to  prevent  its  re- 
moval from  one  room  to  another,  and  in  gen- 
eral to  assign  rooms  to  the  students.  The  sys- 
tem, or  lack  of  it,  hitherto  in  vogue  had  been 
a  mild  form  of  anarchy.  The  upper  classmen 
selected  the  rooms  which  they  preferred,  some- 
times ousting  a  freshman  or  a  sophomore,  ap- 
propriating the  best  pieces  of  furniture  and 
bidding  the  unlucky  under  classmen  shift  for 
themselves.  The  unwritten  rules  of  honour 
among  the  students  forbade  a  boy  to  appeal  to 
the  college  authorities.  The  boy  who  com- 
plained to  the  president  at  once  lost  caste.  He 
found  it  best  to  submit  until  time  gave  him  an 
opportunity  to  despoil  those  below  him.  The 
new  rule  of  the  trustees  obliged  a  student  to 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       133 

keep  the  room  assigned,  and  in  1791  the  trus- 
tees ceased  to  provide  furniture,  each  student 
being  obliged  to  furnish  his  room  himself.  The 
assignment  of  rooms  remained  nominally  in  the 
hands  of  the  faculty,  but  so  deeply  rooted  had 
the  custom  become  that  to  this  day  in  Prince- 
ton College  the  students  always  find  the  way 
to  avoid  the  college  rule.  If  a  senior  wishes  to 
sell  his  room  he  knows  how  to  do  so  without 
an  open  violation  of  it.  For  a  while  the  faculty 
tried  to  assess  upon  the  whole  student  body  the 
amount  of  any  damage  done  by  one  or  more 
of  their  number.  But  it  was  found  impossible 
to  enforce  such  a  regulation  which  died  of 
neglect.  The  number  of  students  had  increased 
rapidly  since  1789.  The  country  had  begun  to 
recover  from  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  war. 
Free  tuition  afforded  by  the  Leslie  fund  and 
others  attracted  boys,  who,  ambitious  for  an 
education,  were  unable  to  bear  the  expense  of 
it.  The  graduating  class  of  1791  numbered 
twenty-five ;  the  next  year  there  were  thirty- 
seven,  the  largest  class  in  the  history  of  the  col- 
lege up  to  this  time. 

For  several  years,  however,  Dr.  Witherspoon 
had  left  the  more  exacting  details  of  the  ad- 
ministration to  Professor  Smith,  who  had  been 
made  vice-president  in  1786.  Six  or  seven 


134  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

years  before  that  he  had  removed  to  his  farm 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  the  college 
where,  as  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Scotland,  he 
played  the  r61e  of  a  scientific  farmer.  He  was 
not  a  successful  farmer.  Nor  was  he  fortunate 
in  his  land  speculations  in  Vermont.  Ever 
since  the  depressing  failure  of  his  European 
mission  his  health  had  been  failing.  In  spite  of 
this  and  the  burdensome,  often  discouraging, 
aspect  of  the  college,  he  brought  his  indomitable 
energy  to  the  task.  Upon  him  rested  the  care 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Princeton,  al- 
though he  had  never  been  formally  installed  as 
its  pastor,  a  statement  which  surprised  the 
Presbytery  when,  in  1793,  the  congregation 
came  up  with  a  request  for  a  duly  installed 
pastor,  Dr.  Witherspoon  having  declined  to 
serve  them  any  longer  in  that  capacity.  Even 
as  early  as  the  sessions  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress in  Philadelphia  John  Adams  thought 
Witherspoon's  memory  was  failing.  He  had 
fallen  in  a  faint  several  times  as  he  was  about 
to  leave  the  pulpit.  The  amount  of  labour  un- 
dertaken by  him  was  enough  to  break  down 
the  strongest  constitution.  His  duties  in  the 
college,  always  heavy,  were  supplemented  by 
his  services  in  the  Continental  Congress.  He 
served  upon  many  committees  of  Presbytery 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       135 

and  Synod  and  General  Assembly.  Although 
not  more  than  seventy-two  he  could  no  longer 
sustain  these  labours.  He  was  well  enough  to 
preside  at  the  commencement  of  September, 
1794,  but  died  on  the  I4th  of  November  follow- 
ing. 

His  service  to  the  college  had  been  in- 
calculable. Although  the  least  he  did  was  for 
the  financial  endowment,  that  in  itself  was  con- 
siderable when  one  reflects  upon  the  scarcity 
of  money  in  colonial  times,  its  practical  absence 
from  public  channels  during  the  war,  and  the 
depreciation  of  the  currency,  the  panic  and 
stagnation  in  business  which  followed.  A 
college,  which  sent  the  new  president  to  the 
first  meeting  of  his  Presbytery  in  1769  with 
the  statement  that  the  trustees  feared  it  would 
have  to  be  closed  unless  the  money  to  carry  it  on 
were  supplied,  had  been  brought  by  this  new 
president,  undismayed,  resolute,  resourceful 
and  energetic,  into  such  a  sound  financial  con- 
dition that  it  never  again  faced  such  a  crisis. 
By  his  personal  self-sacrifices  of  money,  his 
patience  in  waiting  for  his  own  salary  some- 
times two  or  three  years  in  arrears,  by  faith- 
fully performing  that  most  disagreeable  duty  of 
soliciting  money  from  private  individuals  often 
strangers  to  himself,  and  whose  respect  and 


I36  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

admiration  he  won,  "by  journeyings  often," 
never  uttering  a  word  of  complaint  or  giving  a 
sign  of  discouragement,  this  stranger  in  a 
strange  land,  practically  saved  the  college  from 
threatened  bankruptcy,  and  in  spite  of  war  and 
financial  depression  in  the  land  made  it  finan- 
cially one  of  the  strongest  institutions  in 
America. 

Better  than  this,  under  Witherspoon's  guid- 
ance, the  educational  facilities  of  the  college  were 
enlarged  and  its  standards  exalted.  The  pur- 
pose of  its  founders,  to  educate  men  for  the 
ministry,  was  more  than  accomplished.  From 
its  halls  there  went  a  large  proportion  of  men 
who  achieved  distinction  in  public  life,  in  the 
learned  professions  and  in  business.  It  was 
a  thoroughly  democratic  institution,  Indians 
and  free  black  men  finding  there  an  equal  op- 
portunity with  Witherspoon's  own  sons  and 
with  boys  from  the  best  families  in  America. 
Many  students  whose  usefulness  in  after  life 
fully  justified  the  practice,  received  their  educa- 
tion as  a  free  gift.  Witherspoon  was  probably 
the  most  scholarly  man  in  his  church  at  the 
time,  enjoying  great  fame  as  an  author,  re- 
garded as  a  model  writer  with  a  clear  and 
forceful  style,  having  a  wide  acquaintance  with 
literature,  master  of  five  languages,  speaking 


PRESIDENT  OF  PRINCETON       137 

French  and  Latin  as  easily  as  English,  and  an 
authority  in  Greek  and  Hebrew.  His  theolog- 
ical writings  had  a  wide  circulation,  bringing 
commendation  from  the  universities  of  Europe 
as  well  as  from  his  own  church.  John  Adams 
called  him  "  a  clear  and  sensible  preacher." 
Although  not  a  great  orator,  he  had  no  superior 
in  the  pulpit.  All  of  these  abilities  he  employed 
directly  or  indirectly  in  the  service  of  Princeton. 


Ill 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 

IN  quaint  phrase  the  clerk  of  New  Brunswick 
Presbytery  records  that  when  Witherspoon  pre- 
sented his  credentials  from  Paisley  Presbytery 
and  asked  to  be  received  "  the  Presbytery  did 
with  the  greatest  cheerfulness  receive  him  as 
a  member  with  them."  His  first  duty  in  the 
Presbytery  was  to  urge  the  claims  of  Princeton 
College  which  he  did  with  such  force  that  the 
Presbytery  pledged  its  members,  in  a  long  and 
earnest  series  of  resolutions,  to  exert  themselves 
in  collecting  money.  With  what  success  they 
did  so,  we  have  already  seen.  Except  at  an 
adjourned  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  a  few 
days  later,  during  the  session  of  the  Synod, 
Witherspoon  did  not  attend  Presbytery  again 
until  the  spring  of  1771.  Such  meetings  re- 
quired more  time  than  the  busy  president  could 
well  spare  so  early  in  his  connection  with 
Princeton.  The  necessary  journeys  were  made 
on  horseback  and  Witherspoon  made  it  a  rule 
never  to  ride  faster  than  a  walk,  for  he  was  too 
corpulent  for  rapid  riding.  Until  1777  he  was 

138 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     139 

absent  from  Presbytery  almost  as  often  as  he 
was  present,  and  he  did  not  attend  a  single 
meeting  from  October,  1777,  until  October,  1781, 
being  engaged  at  the  Continental  Congress 
during  those  four  years.  Of  the  twenty-six 
subsequent  meetings  he  was  present  at  twenty- 
four.  These  seemingly  unimportant  details  I 
mention  as  showing  how  intimately  he  was 
identified  with  the  work  of  his  church.  As  a 
member  of  Presbytery  he  served  upon  several 
important  committees,  such  as  were  appointed 
to  straighten  out  the  tangled  affairs  of  churches 
at  Trenton,  Nolton  and  elsewhere,  to  install 
ministers,  some  of  them  young  men  from 
Scotland,  for  whose  orthodoxy  he  became 
sponsor.  He  supplied  vacant  churches  even 
during  the  four  years  of  his  absence  from 
Presbytery,  not  only  within  the  bounds  of  his 
own  Presbytery,  but  beyond  those,  in  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania.  Twice  he  visited 
David  Brainerd's  school  for  the  Indians  and 
agreed  to  look  after  the  education  of  those 
Indians  who  might  be  sent  to  Princeton.  Al- 
though not  the  regularly  installed  pastor  of  the 
Princeton  church  he  attended  to  all  the  duties  of 
such  an  office  in  the  town.  Indeed  until  1784 
the  Presbyterians  worshipped  in  the  college 
chapel,  some  of  them  having  regularly  assigned 


I4o  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

pews  for  which  they  paid  rent,  and  one  of  them, 
Mrs.  Stockton,  was  permitted  to  build  a  pew  to 
her  own  liking.  After  the  people  of  the  town 
had  built  a  church  for  themselves  upon  land 
donated  by  the  college,  he  continued  to  act  as 
their  pastor,  as  has  already  been  stated.  The 
difficulties  faced  by  the  church  of  that  time 
were  those  ordinarily  found  in  newly  settled 
lands  and  were  shared  by  government,  com- 
merce, education  and  society.  Intercourse  was 
necessarily  slow.  The  postmaster's  duties  were 
light.  The  roads  were  soft  and  heavy.  There 
was  little  money  and  its  circulation  sluggish. 
Populations  shifted  unsteadily  so  that  a  church 
which  was  hopefully  strong  one  year  went  to 
pieces  the  next  as  the  people  followed  the 
rumours  of  better  lands  to  be  had  practically  for 
the  asking.  The  numbers  of  ministers  could 
not  at  first  keep  pace  with  the  number  of 
settlements,  some  of  which  called  earnestly  for 
preaching,  while  others  were  indifferent ;  but 
all  appealed  to  the  church  which  made  strenu- 
ous self-sacrificing  and  devoted  efforts  to  fol- 
low the  ramifying  roads  which  penetrated  the 
dangerous  and  difficult,  but  alluring,  fascinat- 
ing wilderness  of  rich  soil.  With  what  fidelity, 
even  enthusiasm,  the  Presbyterian  ministers 
laboured  cannot  be  told  within  the  limits  of  this 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     141 

sketch.  Witherspoon's  most  effective  work  for 
his  church  was  done,  of  course,  at  Princeton 
where  he  lectured  on  Divinity  and  taught 
Hebrew  to  those  students  who  intended  to 
become  ministers.  But  from  New  England  to 
Virginia  he  preached  by  appointment  of  Synod, 
not  merely  to  present  the  educational  advan- 
tages and  financial  needs  of  the  college,  but  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  supply.  In  the 
cities  large  audiences  greeted  this  "  strong  and 
sensible  preacher  "  as  John  Adams  called  him, 
and  in  the  country  churches  his  visits  were 
proportionately  appreciated. 

At  that  time  the  government  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  was  not  so  tight  as  it  afterwards 
became.  The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia included  most,  but  not  all,  of  the 
Presbyteries  in  America.  No  formal  declara- 
tion of  principles  of  government  or  of  creed 
had  yet  been  made.  The  creed,  to  which  every 
minister  was  obliged  to  assent,  was  the  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith,  which  was  ac- 
cepted also  by  the  New  England  Congrega- 
tionalists.  Each  Presbytery  was  independent 
of  every  other,  and  sometimes  defied  the 
Synod,  reserving  to  itself  the  right  to  ignore  it 
The  Synod  was  not  a  delegated  body  but  was 
composed  of  all  the  ministers  of  all  the  Presby- 


142  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

teries  with  a  layman  from  each  church.  So 
that  when  the  Synod  met  it  not  only  represented 
the  entire  church ;  so  far  as  the  clergy  were 
concerned  it  was  the  entire  church,  although 
the  complaint  was  often  made  that  many  of  the 
ministers  absented  themselves. 

Witherspoon's  first  appearance  in  the  Synod 
was  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  1769.  He  was 
more  diligent  in  his  attendance  upon  the  meet- 
ings of  Synod  than  upon  those  of  Presbytery, 
missing  only  five  of  a  possible  twenty-seven, 
but  being  invariably  late.  Probably  his  horse 
did  not  walk  at  a  very  rapid  gait.  That  was 
not  an  age  of  fret  and  haste.  None  the  less 
was  it  an  era  of  earnestness  and  intensity  of 
conviction.  Most  tenaciously  those  ministers 
clung  to  their  orthodoxy,  but  just  as  charitably 
did  they  regard  other  Christian  churches,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and,  pos- 
sibly, the  Episcopalian.  They  were  alert  to 
discover  any  sign  of  Roman  encroachment, 
or  any  threat  of  Episcopal  domination.  Of  the 
former  there  was  never  any  great  danger,  even 
when  George  III  confirmed  the  Catholic  Church 
in  its  long  established  rights  in  Canada.  But 
of  Episcopal  supremacy  there  was  no  little 
dread,  if  no  great  danger.  Other  writers  have 
called  attention  to  the  attempts  of  the  estab- 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     143 

lished  Church  of  England  to  include  the 
colonies  in  its  jurisdiction,  as  Gladstone  a 
century  later  partially  enabled  it  to  accomplish 
in  other  English  colonies.  The  feeling  on  this 
point  is  made  clear  in  a  hitherto  unpublished 
letter  of  Witherspoon,  written  in  1772  to  secure 
the  aid  of  a  Scotch  peer  in  obtaining  a  charter 
for  a  corporation  fostered  by  the  Presbyterians 
of  America.  Its  story  may  be  told  here.  The 
corporation  was  known  at  that  time  as  the 
Widow's  Fund  and  was  in  its  essential  features 
a  life  insurance  society,  which,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, afterwards  became  what  is  claimed  to  be 
the  oldest  life  insurance  company  in  America, 
The  Presbyterian  Minister's  Fund.  Its  affairs 
came  before  the  Synod  almost  every  year, 
Witherspoon  being  frequently  a  member  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  examine  its  accounts. 
The  ministers  and  laymen  who  composed  the 
corporation,  Witherspoon  being  one  of  them, 
had  endeavoured  in  vain  to  secure  a  charter 
from  the  royal  governor  of  New  Jersey,  Will- 
iam T.  Franklin.  One  had  been  granted  by 
Pennsylvania  early  in  1759,  but  a  charter 
granted  by  one  province  did  not  entitle  a 
corporation  to  the  benefit  of  the  laws  of  an- 
other. It  was  necessary  to  obtain  a  charter  in 
New  Jersey.  The  letter,  which  follows,  entire, 


144  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

throws  light  upon  the  ecclesiastical  rivalries  of 
the  time. 

"  My  Lord,  though  I  have  not  the  honour  of 
being  personally  known  to  your  Lordship,  I  am 
encouraged  to  this  application  by  your  char- 
acter which  has  been  long  known  to  me.  As 
to  myself,  I  shall  only  say  that  after  having 
been  twenty-three  years  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  I  was  persuaded  to  remove 
to  America  to  take  the  charge  of  a  college  with 
a  royal  charter  in  this  province.  By  the  good- 
ness of  God,  the  friends  of  the  college  and  the 
number  of  scholars  have  increased  since  I  came 
here  beyond  even  our  most  sanguine  expecta- 
tions. There  are  at  this  time  under  my  tuition 
young  gentlemen  of  the  first  fortune  and  ex- 
pectations from  almost  every  province  on  the 
continent,  as  well  as  several  of  the  West  India 
Islands. 

"This  I  only  mention  briefly  by  way  of  intro- 
duction to  the  chief  subject  of  my  address. 
Your  Lordship  may  please  therefore  to  know, 
that  in  all  the  middle  colonies  from  Maryland 
northward,  the  Presbyterians  are  a  great  ma- 
jority and  including  the  other  subdivisions  of 
non-Episcopals,  Baptists,  Quakers,  etc.,  are  to 
the  Episcopalians  at  least  ten  to  one  in  Penn- 
sylvania, New  Jersey  and  New  York,  and 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     145 

possibly  twenty  to  one  in  New  England.  Yet 
in  all  the  royal  governments  the  most  illiberal 
and  unjust  partiality  prevails  in  favour  of  the 
Church  of  England.  This  is  the  more  shame- 
ful that  Pennsylvania  is  before  their  eyes,  which 
though  the  last  settled  of  any  of  them  is  already 
greatly  superior  to  them,  not  in  numbers  and 
value  of  land  merely,  by  the  principles  of  its 
settlement  and  in  a  particular  manner  by  the 
equal  and  impartial  support  it  gives  to  every 
religious  denomination.  Every  religious  so- 
ciety there  has  the  rights,  including  property, 
of  a  corporation. 

"  In  this  province  though  the  non-Episcopals 
are  so  great  a  majority  and  though  the  lower 
house  of  assembly  consists  of  a  majority  of 
Presbyterians,  yet  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  a 
charter  for  any  Presbyterian  society.  While 
any  inconsiderable  number  of  Episcopalians, 
though  utterly  unable  to  maintain  a  minister, 
but  having  a  minister  from  the  London  Society, 
can  obtain  everything  of  that  kind  they  see 
proper  to  ask,  [and  though  they  sometimes 
grant  such  favours  even  to  small  societies  of 
Baptists  and  Dutch  with  the  politic  view  of 
alienating  them  from  the  Presbyterians  with 
whom  by  principles  they  are  otherwise  con- 
nected. 


146  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

"To  get  charters  for  houses  of  worship  we 
have  long  despaired  of,  but  lately  applied  to  the 
governor  for  a  charter  of  incorporation  to  raise 
a  fund  for  the  support  of  the  widows  and  chil- 
dren of  Presbyterian  ministers ;  the  council 
recommended  to  him  to  pass  it  on  two  con- 
ditions, that  it  should  be  wholly  confined  to  the 
charity  and  made  accountable  to  the  governor 
and  council.  These  we  readily  complied  with, 
never  having  had  any  other  view  but  the 
charity,  and  being  of  opinion  that  any  manager 
of  a  charity  should  be  willing  to  account  to  the 
whole  world.  Yet  though  the  governor  at  first 
seemed  to  be  friendly  he  has  all  along  put  it 
off,  and  not  daring,  we  suppose,  to  refuse  it 
himself  lest  he  should  provoke  the  assembly  of 
the  province,  he  has  sent  it  over  by  the  last 
packet  to  ask  advice  in  England  upon  the  sub- 
ject. As  it  is  possible,  a  partial  representation 
may  accompany  it  and  by  party  influence  it 
may  be  rejected  at  home,  as  was  done  in  a 
similar  case  of  a  charter  to  a  Presbyterian 
church  in  New  York,  I  could  not  think  of  any 
person  so  proper  to  apply  to  as  your  Lordship, 
of  whose  regard  for  religion  in  general,  and 
attachment  to  the  Church  of  Scotland,  I  have 
had  so  many  proofs. 

"  May  I  therefore  beg  the  favour  of  your  Lord- 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     147 

ship  if  it  can  possibly  comport  with  your  con- 
veniency  to  attend  the  Privy  Council  when  this 
matter  comes  before  them.  The  equity  and 
justice  of  the  demand  is  such  that  I  cannot 
easily  divine  what  will  be  offered  against  it.  I 
can  know  of  nothing  on  this  side  of  the  water 
but  resentment  against  the  Presbyterians  for 
opposing  the  coming  over  of  a  bishop.  As  to 
this  province  there  has  not  been  to  my  knowl- 
edge any  disturbance  upon  this  subject,  but 
whatever  has  been  said  or  written  in  any  other 
province,  I  can  assure  your  Lordship,  arises  en- 
tirely from  an  apprehension  of  its  influence  upon 
these  our  civil  and  religious  liberties,  and  not 
from  any  narrowness  of  mind  in  matters  of  faith 
or  worship.  This  may  be  clearly  seen  from  the 
late  transactions  in  Virginia,  where  the  laity  of 
the  Episcopal  persuasion  are  making  a  fiercer 
opposition  to  the  measure  than  ever  was  made 
in  colonies  consisting  chiefly  of  Presbyterians. 
But  supposing  improper  liberties  to  have  been 
taken  in  speeches  or  writing  by  a  few  particu- 
lars, in  which  they  have  been  far  outdone  by 
their  adversaries.  Can  it  have  any  other  effect 
than  to  exasperate  the  evil  to  treat  so  great  a 
body  with  partiality  and  injustice  ? 

"In   the    government    of   Pennsylvania  the 
Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians  have  each  of 


i48  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

them  such  charters  as  are  desired,  and  the 
Episcopalians  have  in  this  government,  and  in 
New  York,  and  indeed  wherever  they  have  ap- 
plied for  it 

"  I  am  unwilling  to  detain  your  Lordship  by 
long  reasoning  or  tedious  narratives  unless  I 
knew  beforehand  that  it  were  agreeable ;  but  as 
American  affairs  seem  now  to  be  of  some  im- 
portance in  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  if 
your  Lordship  desires  information  on  the  state 
of  this  country  with  respect  to  politics,  religion, 
professions,  trade  or  cultivation,  as  I  live  in  the 
centre  of  it,  equally  distant  from  the  cities  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  have  now  a 
very  considerable  connection  with  many  gentle- 
men of  weight  in  all  the  provinces,  I  flatter  my- 
self I  am  able  and  shall  certainly  be  very  willing 
to  inform  you. 

"  There  are  now  under  my  care  many  who  in 
a  very  short  time  will  be  at  the  head  of  affairs 
in  their  several  provinces,  and  I  have  already 
and  shall  continue  to  temper  the  spirit  of  liberty 
which  breathes  high  in  this  country,  with  just 
sentiments,  not  only  of  loyalty  to  our  excellent 
sovereign,  in  which  they  do  not  seem  to  be 
defective,  but  with  a  love  of  order,  and  an 
aversion  to  that  outrage  and  sedition  into  which 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     149 

the  spirit  of  liberty,  when  not  reined,  is  some- 
times apt  to  degenerate. 

"  If  your  Lordship  should  be  in  Scotland  when 
this  letter  reaches  you  it  will  certainly  be  in 
your  power  by  a  letter  to  prevent  the  pro- 
hibition of  our  charter  by  the  influence  of  party 
and  the  inattention  by  persons  of  high  rank  to 
things  of  this  nature.  I  have  written  the  above 
entirely  of  my  own  proper  motion,  and  shall  not 
communicate  it  to  any  person  whatever  till  I 
know  of  its  effects." 

Witherspoon  and  Elihu  Spencer,  pastor  at 
Trenton,  were  the  applicants  for  the  charter, 
the  trustees  named  including  other  Presby- 
terians and,  as  he  says  in  his  letter,  Governor 
Franklin  himself.  The  application  was  suc- 
cessful, in  spite  of  the  half-hearted  letter  of 
Governor  Franklin,  and  his  slurs  at  the  Presby- 
terians which  might  have  defeated  it.  In  No- 
vember, 1774,  Witherspoon  thanked  the  noble 
earl  for  his  influence  in  another  letter,  entreat- 
ing Lord  Marchmont  to  exert  it  again  in  secur- 
ing a  charter  for  a  church  in  New  York,  which 
was  likewise  successful,  although  Franklin  had 
written  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  grant  the 
Presbyterians  any  further  privileges. 

Both  of  these  letters  give  us  an  inside  view 


150  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

of  the  ecclesiastical  situation  in  America,  where 
the  coming  of  a  bishop  was  eagerly  demanded 
by  the  Episcopalians  and  as  ardently  opposed 
by  the  Presbyterians. 

As  a  member  of  the  Synod,  Witherspoon 
took  a  foremost  place,  willingly  performing 
such  duties  as  were  assigned  to  him.  The 
mission  to  the  Indians  received  attention 
every  year.  This  was  in  charge  of  John 
Brainerd,  a  brother  of  the  celebrated  David 
Brainerd,  whose  untimely  death,  in  1747,  had 
been  a  severe  loss  to  the  church  hi  its  work 
among  the  savages.  John  Brainerd  did  not 
show  the  hot  enthusiasm  of  his  brother,  but  he 
laboured  faithfully  as  long  as  he  lived,  not  only 
among  the  Indians,  but  also  among  the  white 
settlers,  having  seven  regular  preaching  stations. 
He  conducted  a  school  for  the  Indians  every  sum- 
mer, and  often  throughout  the  year.  Wither- 
spoon's  interest  in  work  among  the  Indians  had 
been  shown  long  before  in  Scotland.  In  America 
it  was  not  diminished.  He  inspected  the  school, 
and  later,  as  treasurer  of  the  Synod,  an  office 
which  he  held  from  1773  till  1789,  he  trans- 
mitted the  money  annually  voted  for  Brainerd's 
support.  Even  in  the  exciting  year  of  1776  he 
was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  on  the 
Indian  school,  although  he  had  leave  of  absence 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     151 

from  Synod,  sitting  at  Philadelphia,  May  22d, 
to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  of  New 
Jersey,  which  a  few  weeks  later  sent  him  to  the 
Continental  Congress. 

At  that  time  the  American  Presbyterian 
church  followed  a  custom  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  in  appointing  a  commission  to  attend 
to  the  business  of  the  Synod,  carrying  out  its 
orders,  hearing  complaints,  settling  difficulties 
and  acting  with  all  the  authority  of  the  Synod 
itself.  Witherspoon  often  served  on  this  com- 
mission. By  some  of  the  ministers  its  useful- 
ness was  questioned.  These  brought  in  a 
motion  designed  to  test  its  continuance  in 
1774,  but  the  Synod  voted  to  continue  it.  It 
appears,  however,  to  have  been  permitted  to 
die,  none  having  been  appointed  after  1783. 

The  session  of  the  Synod  usually  began  at 
nine  o'clock.  About  one  adjournment  was 
taken  for  dinner,  a  function  so  important  that 
the  afternoon  session  did  not  begin  until  three, 
but  lasted  until  candlelight.  The  luckless  com- 
mittee on  overtures,  annually  appointed  after 
1 769,  was  ordered  to  meet  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  to  prepare  whatever  might  be  sub- 
mitted to  it  for  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  at 
nine.  This  committee,  which  saved  so  much 
time  to  the  Synod,  was  the  beginning  of  a 


152  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

method  followed  by  the  church  assemblies 
with  great  success,  and  is  an  essential  adjunct 
of  deliberative  bodies  when  speedy  work  is 
desired. 

With  other  Protestant  churches  in  the  colonies, 
the  Presbyterian  was  on  the  best  of  terms.  As 
yet  there  were  few  Methodists.  The  eloquent 
fervour  of  Whitfield  had  roused  the  slumbering 
fire  of  the  Presbyterians  twenty  years  before 
Witherspoon's  arrival  in  America,  and  the 
preaching  of  Jonathan  Edwards  was  not  yet 
forgotten.  The  Congregationalists  of  New 
England  differed  from  the  Presbyterians  in  only 
one  particular,  that  of  church  government. 
Both  churches  received  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession of  Faith.  Delegates  from  the  Presby- 
terian Synod  sat  in  the  general  convention  of 
the  New  England  church.  Witherspoon  was 
frequently  a  delegate  to  this  gathering.  He 
was  thus  brought  into  touch  with  the  men  of 
New  England,  and  we  have  already  learned 
that  some  of  them  gave  him  money  for  the  col- 
lege, and  others  sent  their  sons  to  Princeton. 
This  close  intercourse  between  the  two  churches 
was  kept  up  for  many  years.  Four  or  five 
times  Witherspoon  was  a  delegate  to  the  gen- 
eral convention.  In  1 792  the  committee  of  cor- 
respondence, of  which  he  was  a  member,  re- 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     153 

ported  a  suggestion  of  the  joint  convention 
which  tended  to  relieve  friction,  and  even  to 
promote  union.  As  a  result  of  this,  each  church 
appointed  three  members  to  sit  in  the  highest 
court  of  the  other  without  the  right  to  vote,  al- 
though this  right  was  mutually  conceded  in 
1795.  Witherspoon,  ever  active  in  any  plan 
to  promote  union,  was  one  of  the  first  three 
delegates  chosen,  and  attended  the  meeting,  co- 
operating heartily  with  Timothy  D wight,  whose 
efforts  among  the  Congregationalists  equalled 
his  own  among  the  Presbyterians.  The  mutual 
arrangement  continued  in  operation  until  the 
division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  1837, 
into  the  Old  and  New  School  branches. 

This  is  not  the  only  evidence  of  his  desire  to 
bring  about  a  union  of  the  Reformed  churches 
in  America.  In  1 784  a  committee  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  meet  the  classis  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed church  at  New  Brunswick  to  compro- 
mise some  differences.  The  Dutch  brethren 
were  uneasy  about  the  orthodoxy  and  conduct 
of  some  ministers  of  the  New  York  Presbytery. 
This  church  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  strictest 
Protestant  churches.  Witherspoon  had  many 
friends  among  its  ministers  and  members,  some 
of  whom  were  trustees  of  Princeton  college. 
Before  coming  to  America  he  had  visited  Hoi- 


154  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

land,  where  he  received  a  gift  of  books  for  the 
library,  and  on  his  less  fortunate  visit  in  1783, 
he  enlisted  the  sympathy  of  his  friends  in  the 
Low  Countries.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he 
had  been  invited  to  become  pastor  of  a  church 
in  Rotterdam.  He  was  just  the  man  to  bring 
about  closer  relations.  The  conference,  which 
met  at  New  York  October  5,  1785,  was  joined 
by  representatives  of  the  associate  Reformed 
Church  with  which,  through  Witherspoon,  some 
correspondence  had  been  irregularly  kept  up 
since  1 769,  the  year  after  his  arrival  in  America. 
Much  was  done  to  bring  about  closer  relations. 
Each  church  agreed  to  maintain  its  creed  for 
the  sake  of  the  other  two,  so  that  no  unworthy 
minister  might  pass  from  one  to  either  of  the 
others.  A  later  agreement  brought  about  that 
mutual  confidence  which  has  continued  ever 
since,  by  which  the  ministers  and  members  of 
the  several  churches  are  cordially  and  freely 
recognized  on  the  common  basis  of  Christian 
faith.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  devoted  ef- 
forts of  such  men  as  Witherspoon  and  his  asso- 
ciates did  not  result  in  a  formal  union  which  at 
this  distance  of  time  would  seem  to  have  been 
so  easy  and  desirable. 

For  many  years  whatever  could  be  done  to 
preserve  the  union  of  Protestantism  and  main- 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     155 

tain  close  relations  with  foreign  churches,  was 
entrusted  to  certain  members  of  the  Synod. 
Witherspoon  was  usually  one  of  the  committee 
to  prepare  the  draft  of  the  letter  sent  almost 
every  year,  and  he  looked  after  the  letters  to 
Scotland  and  France,  sometimes  also  that  to 
Holland. 

The  American  Church  found  it  necessary  to 
guard  its  congregations  against  unworthy  min- 
isters from  abroad.  Scotland  and  Ireland  seem 
to  have  furnished  the  larger  share  of  these. 
Clergymen  who  had  been  deposed  for  heresy, 
immorality,  drunkenness  or  conduct  unbecom- 
ing the  calling,  or  any  other  for  that  matter, 
came  to  the  colonies,  told  a  smooth  story  of 
having  lost  their  credentials  or  even  presented 
forged  credentials.  Sometimes  a  foreign  Pres- 
bytery was  suspected  of  having  given  a  good 
character  to  some  pestiferous  fellow  merely  to 
get  rid  of  him,  although  that  was  never  proven. 
It  was  necessary  to  examine  these  men,  and  as 
Witherspoon  was  fairly  well  acquainted  with 
the  clergy  of  the  Scotch  church,  this  duty  often 
fell  to  him.  Occasionally  a  young  licentiate 
brought  letters  of  introduction  from  Wither- 
spoon's  friends.  The  house  at  Princeton  was  a 
mecca  for  many  a  Scotch  lad.  For  some  of 
these  he  secured  churches  and,  as  in  the  case  of 


i56  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

Rev.  Walter  Monteith,  who  became  pastor  at 
New  Brunswick,  he  preached  the  installation 
sermon.  Once  during  the  confusion  of  the  war, 
when  he  could  not  wait  upon  the  uncertainty  of 
a  meeting  of  the  Synod  or  Presbytery,  he  gave 
a  letter  of  general  good  standing  to  a  young 
minister  who  went  to  the  Carolinas  and  proved 
himself  worthy  of  Witherspoon's  good  words  in 
his  favour.  It  may  seem  strange  to  us  that 
clergymen  from  abroad  applied  in  the  first  in- 
stance to  the  Synod.  But  the  Synod  frequently 
acted  in  a  Presbyterial  capacity,  assigning  sup- 
plies to  vacant  churches,  as  when  Witherspoon 
was  ordered  to  preach  for  Mr.  Azel  Roe  in  New 
York.  Another  time  he  was  sent  to  Bucks 
County,  Pennsylvania,  to  preach  and  collect 
money  for  the  college.  Ministers  who  offered 
their  credentials  to  the  Synod  were  ordered  to 
connect  themselves  with  a  Presbytery,  but  were 
frequently  sent  on  evangelistic  journeys  through 
the  territory  covered  by  several  of  the  frontier 
Presbyteries.  Some  members  of  Synod  were 
so  fearful  of  unorthodox  and  unworthy  ministers 
that  in  1773  an  overture  was  passed  forbidding 
the  Presbyteries  to  receive  a  minister  or  give 
him  any  appointment  until  the  Synod  should 
pass  upon  his  credentials.  Some  members  dis- 
sented against  the  overture,  but  their  objections 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     157 

were  withdrawn  when  Synod  agreed  that  it 
should  not  apply  to  ministers  from  any  part  of 
America,  and  was  later  amended  so  as  to  permit 
Presbyteries  to  employ  the  foreign  clergymen 
in  vacant  churches,  but  not  to  admit  them  to 
full  membership  until  Synod  approved.  With- 
erspoon  fully  approved  of  these  watchful  meas- 
ures. When  the  Synod  reversed  itself  on  the 
question  the  next  year,  he  with  six  others  pro- 
tested against  the  reversal  so  strongly  that  a 
new  overture,  covering  the  disputed  points,  was 
adopted.  It  urged  Presbyteries  to  be  very  care- 
ful in  receiving  ministers  from  abroad,  and  not 
to  be  satisfied  with  formal  credentials,  but  to  re- 
quire also  personal  letters,  and  further  directed 
the  Presbyteries  to  bring  these  credentials  and 
letters  to  the  Synod  following  the  reception,  that 
they  might  be  fully  examined  by  the  Synod. 
This  overture  saved  the  authority  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  which  many  ministers  were  jealous, 
but  guarded  the  church  against  the  danger  so 
much  dreaded  by  men  like  Witherspoon.  His 
zeal  for  orthodoxy  almost  made  him  forget  the 
freedom  for  which  he  had  contended  in  Scot- 
land. 

When  the  Synod  met  at  New  York,  May, 
1775,  the  colonies  had  already  entered  upon  the 
struggle  which  has  ever  since  been  called  the 


158  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

American  Revolution.  Presbyterians,  almost 
to  a  man,  sided  with  the  colonies.  The  ex- 
ceptions we  shall  have  occasion  to  note  as  we 
follow  Witherspoon's  course  in  the  struggle. 
It  may  be  said  here,  however,  that  those  excep- 
tions did  not  include  a  single  Presbyterian  min- 
ister. All  of  them  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
colonists,  many  of  them  became  chaplains  and 
a  few  raised  companies  of  troops  which  they  led 
to  battle.  In  view  of  the  serious  aspect  of  pub- 
lic affairs  the  Synod  thought  it  prudent  to  issue 
a  pastoral  letter  to  their  people.  Its  prepara- 
tion was  committed  to  seven  ministers  of  whom 
Witherspoon  was  the  first  mentioned.  While 
it  is  fatuous  praise  to  attribute  the  whole  com- 
position of  the  letter  to  him,  it  is  equally  im- 
possible to  overlook  the  many  instances  of  en- 
tire sentences  which  are  duplicated  in  sermons 
and  addresses  by  him  written  before  this  time. 

After  urging  the  people  to  remember  their 
dependence  on  God  and  to  turn  to  Him  with 
sincere  repentance,  the  letter,  noting  the  fact 
that  "  hostilities,  long  feared,  have  now  taken 
place,"  declares  that  "if  the  British  ministry 
shall  continue  to  enforce  their  claims  by  vio- 
lence, a  lasting  and  bloody  contest  must  be  ex- 
pected." Ardently  had  the  ministers  hoped 
that  the  unhappy  differences  might  have  been 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     159 

accommodated  ;  none  of  them  had  ever,  either 
in  the  pulpit  or  public  press,  inflamed  the 
minds  of  the  people.  But  protestations  of  this 
sort  could  not  conceal  the  real  sentiments  of 
Witherspoon  and  his  associates,  he  especially 
being  already  known  as  "  an  ardent  friend  of 
liberty"  in  America,  and  suspected  of  being 
"a  turncoat  and  traitor"  in  England.  The 
letter  itself  goes  on  to  say,  "  Let  every  one  who 
from  generosity  of  spirit  or  benevolence  of 
heart  offers  himself  as  a  champion  in  his  coun- 
try's cause,  be  persuaded  to  reverence  the  name 
and  walk  in  the  fear  of  the  Prince  of  the  kings 
of  the  earth."  Then  they  offer  some  further 
advices.  First  that  every  opportunity  be  taken 
to  express  their  "  attachment  and  respect  to  our 
sovereign  King  George,  and  to  the  revolution 
principles  by  which  his  august  family  was 
seated  on  the  British  throne."  Here  appears 
that  point  in  the  American  contention  which 
has  so  often  been  emphasized.  "  It  gives  us 
the  greatest  pleasure  to  say,  from  our  own  cer- 
tain knowledge  of  all  belonging  to  our  com- 
munion, and  from  the  best  means  of  informa- 
tion, of  the  far  greatest  part  of  all  denomina- 
tions in  this  country,  that  the  present  opposition 
to  the  measures  of  administration  does  not  in 
the  least  arise  from  disaffection  to  the  king,  nor 


160  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

a  desire  of  separation  from  the  parent  state." 
The  people  are  exhorted  "to  continue  in  the 
same  disposition."  But  when  the  letter  was 
read  in  open  session  of  the  Synod,  Mr.  Halsey, 
one  of  the  committee,  dissented  from  these  dec- 
larations of  allegiance. 

Then  the  people  are  urged  not  only  to  treat 
with  respect  the  Continental  Congress  then  in 
session,  and  to  encourage  them  in  their  difficult 
service,  but  to  adhere  firmly  to  their  resolutions, 
"  and  let  it  be  seen  that  they  are  able  to  bring 
out  the  whole  strength  of  this  vast  country  to 
carry  them  into  execution."  To  guard  carefully 
their  morals,  conscientiously  pay  their  just 
debts,  cherish  a  spirit  of  humanity  and  mercy 
since  "that  man  will  fight  most  bravely,  who 
never  fights  till  it  is  necessary,  and  who  ceases 
to  fight  as  soon  as  the  necessity  is  over,"  and  to 
continue  in  the  habit  of  prayer  are  the  sugges- 
tions of  this  pastoral  letter.  The  last  Thursday 
of  June  was  appointed  as  a  general  fast  day 
with  the  proviso  that  if  the  Continental  Con- 
gress appoint  another  day  the  congregations 
should  observe  it  instead.  On  Friday,  May 
i  jth,  the  day  selected  by  the  Congress,  Wither- 
spoon  preached  a  sermon  which  will  be  noticed 
in  another  place. 

The  next  year  when  the  Synod  met  in  Phila- 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     161 

delphia,  May  22d,  Witherspoon  did  not  arrive 
until  half-past  three  in  the  afternoon  and  at 
nine  the  next  morning  was  excused,  going  at 
once  to  the  meeting  of  the  committee  of  cor- 
respondence of  Somerset  County  by  which  he 
was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Congress  of  New 
Jersey.  As  the  Synod  met  in  Philadelphia  in 
1777,  New  York  being  an  impossibility  because 
of  the  presence  of  the  British,  Witherspoon,  who 
was  attending  the  Continental  Congress,  left 
that  body  long  enough  to  sit  in  the  Synod,  and 
make  his  treasurer's  report.  In  1778  the  Synod 
could  sit  neither  in  New  York  nor  Philadelphia, 
those  cities  being  in  possession  of  the  British. 
By  the  advice  of  several  ministers  the  moderator 
advertised  in  the  newspapers  that  the  Synod 
would  meet  at  Bedminster,  Somerset  County,  N.  J. 
Witherspoon,  at  York,  Pa.,  whither  the  Congress 
had  fled  as  the  British  approached  Philadelphia, 
was  not  able  to  attend  the  Synod.  But  the  next 
year,  Philadelphia  having  finally  got  rid  of  the 
British,  and  the  Congress  having  returned  to  the 
State  House  in  Independence  Square,  he  could 
easily  walk  across  to  the  First  Church,  where 
he  reported  that  he  had  "lately  received  a 
legacy,  left  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Diodati  Johnson, 
of  New  England,  to  be  deposited  with  this 
Synod  at  their  disposal,  and  that  there  is  now 


162  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

in  his  hands  three  hundred  and  thirty-two 
pounds,  twelve  shillings,  belonging  to  the 
Synod."  The  Synod,  whose  funds  were  in  gold 
and  silver,  still  spoke  of  pounds  and  shillings, 
but  the  Congress  spoke  of  dollars  and  cents. 
The  exact  sum  left  by  Mr.  Johnson  was  not 
stated  by  Witherspoon  in  his  report,  and  the 
next  year  Mr.  Spencer  was  ordered  to  ask  the 
Doctor  how  much  it  was  and  report  at  the  next 
Synod  if  the  treasurer  should  not  be  present. 
Mr.  Spencer  reported  that  according  to  the 
treasurer's  account  the  legacy  amounted  to  two 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  pounds,  three  shill- 
ings and  fourpence,  and  after  paying  bills  by 
order  of  Synod  he  had  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  pounds,  three  shillings  and  four  pence,  "  to- 
gether with  fifty-four  pounds,  nine  shillings,  five 
and  a  half-pence,  the  good  money  above  men- 
tioned "  as  a  balance  due  the  Synod.  Dr.  With- 
erspoon, who  was  present,  confirmed  the  correct- 
ness of  the  report.  Little  business  was  trans- 
acted. Reports  of  the  distressing  condition  of 
the  country,  of  a  few  ordinations  and  licensures, 
fill  up  the  brief  minutes.  Dr.  Sproat,  pastor  of 
the  church  in  which  the  Synod  was  meeting, 
was  ordered  to  draw  upon  the  treasurer  for 
three  dollars  specie  to  pay  the  janitor.  The 
year  before  they  had  paid  him  two  hundred 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     163 

dollars  paper  money.  The  stated  clerk  received 
forty  shillings  specie  for  transcribing  the  min- 
utes. These  bills  were  paid  out  of  "  the  good 
money  above  mentioned." 

Comparatively  few  ministers  attended  the 
Synod  for  several  years.  Entire  Presbyteries, 
as  many  as  four  or  five  at  a  time  were  noted 
as  absent.  The  Synod  recommended  to  the 
Presbyteries,  in  view  of  the  scarcity  of  money 
and  the  increased  price  of  living,  as  well  as 
the  meagre  salaries  of  the  ministers,  that  some 
measures  be  taken  for  paying  the  expenses  of 
those  who  attend  Synod.  But  the  evil  was  not 
abated,  less  than  half  the  ministers  being 
present  at  any  meeting  until  the  formation  of 
the  General  Assembly.  Some  of  the  Presby- 
teries were  too  remote  for  a  journey  which 
must  be  made  on  horseback  and  required,  in 
some  instances,  two  weeks  at  least,  and  in 
others  more  than  that.  An  elder  could  not 
leave  his  business.  If  he  was  a  farmer  he 
could  not  afford  to  be  away  from  the  farm  at 
the  busiest  season  of  the  year.  Many  of  the 
elders  were  as  poor  as  their  ministers.  Not 
until  the  Synods  covered  a  smaller  territory 
and  met  at  more  convenient  places  could  the 
members  attend  with  regularity.  Witherspoon 
himself,  living  midway  between  New  York  and 


164  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

Philadelphia,  where  the  Synod  met  alternately, 
could  better  afford  to  attend  than  almost  any 
other  member.  Although  usually  tardy  he 
was  seldom  absent  altogether.  Every  year, 
except  in  the  midst  of  the  war,  he  was  ap- 
pointed upon  the  committee  to  dispose  of  the 
funds  in  the  hands  of  the  college  for  the  educa- 
tion of  "  poor  and  pious  youth,"  the  committee 
usually  meeting  at  Princeton  on  commence- 
ment day.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  war 
he  consented  to  serve  on  the  commission  and 
even  to  supply  vacant  churches. 

In  1782,  probably  at  Witherspoon's  sugges- 
tion, a  committee  of  three,  himself  the  chair- 
man, brought  in  a  letter  to  the  minister  of 
France.  I  give  here  a  copy  of  the  original  in 
Witherspoon's  handwriting.  "The  Synod  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  beg  leave  to  ad- 
dress your  Excellency  on  the  auspicious  birth 
of  a  Dauphin  of  France  and  by  your  means  to 
communicate  to  your  sovereign  the  interest 
which  they  take  in  every  event  with  which  his 
honour,  or  happiness,  is  connected.  They  have 
the  rather  chosen  to  embrace  the  opportunity 
offered  them  by  their  being  met  at  this  par- 
ticular season  that  they  might  counteract  the 
insidious  designs  of  the  common  enemy  and 
defeat  the  attempts  now  making  to  divide  in 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     165 

order  to  destroy  us.  It  is  their  wish  therefore 
that  this  address  may  be  considered  as  a  public 
testimony  of  their  approbation  of  the  French 
Alliance  and  their  sense  of  the  advantages 
which  America  has  already  derived  and  still 
hopes  to  receive  from  it.  They  will  not  cease 
to  pray  to  the  God  of  all  grace  that  the  illustri- 
ous ally  of  these  States  and  his  posterity  to  the 
latest  ages  may  be  distinguished  at  home  and 
abroad  as  the  supporters  of  liberty  and  justice, 
as  the  friends  of  mankind  and  deliverers  of  the 
oppressed."  Witherspoon  was  one  of  the  com- 
mittee who  accompanied  the  moderator  to 
present  the  letter.  He  was  personally  ac- 
quainted with  the  French  minister,  having 
several  times  acted  as  interpreter  for  the 
Congress  in  the  negotiations  between  France 
and  America,  and  served  on  the  committee  of 
foreign  affairs. 

An  affair  of  quite  another  sort  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  Synod  the  next  year.  It  ap- 
pears that  in  1781  a  declaration  of  tolerance 
had  been  entered  upon  the  minutes  but  in  1782, 
had  been  expunged.  For  some  reason  other 
denominations,  especially  the  Episcopalian  and 
some  Methodists,  had  accused  the  Presbyterians 
of  intolerance.  The  Synod  felt  called  upon 
to  declare  that,  "It  having  been  represented 


166  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

to  the  Synod  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
suffers  greatly  in  the  opinion  of  other  de- 
nominations from  an  apprehension  that  they 
hold  intolerant  principles,  the  Synod  do 
solemnly  and  publicly  declare  that  they  ever 
have  and  still  do  renounce  and  abhor  the 
principles  of  intolerance ;  and  we  do  believe 
that  every  peaceable  member  of  civil  society 
ought  to  be  protected  in  the  full  and  free 
exercise  of  their  religion."  It  is  perfectly  ab- 
surd to  suppose  that  the  Presbyterians  had  any 
idea  of  attempting  to  urge  upon  Congress  or 
any  state  the  establishment  of  Presbyterianism. 
The  mere  charge  of  intolerance  is  easy  to 
make.  Firmness  of  conviction  and  mainte- 
nance of  belief  does  not  prove  a  man  intolerant. 
It  is  quite  true  that  what  those  men  of  the 
Synod  believed  they  believed  with  all  their 
heart  and  preached  with  all  their  might.  But 
they  did  not  dispute  the  right  of  others  to  be- 
lieve differently. 

One  notes  in  the  minutes  of  this  year 
Witherspoon's  influence  in  having  the  most 
important  actions  of  Synod  printed  and  sent  to 
the  members  that  thus  "  the  whole  body  may 
be  brought  to  operate  with  concert  and  vigour 
and  that  none  may  have  ignorance  as  a  plea 
for  the  neglect  of  duty."  Twice  he  was  on  the 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     167 

committee  to  print  these  and  the  custom  of 
issuing  the  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly 
is  due  largely  to  his  influence. 

More  important  than  anything  else  acted 
upon  by  the  Synod  of  1 783  was  the  draft  of  a 
pastoral  letter  which  Witherspoon  helped  to 
make.  The  immediate  reason  and  the  one 
given  in  the  minutes  for  preparing  it,  was 
found  in  the  difficulties  under  which  gospel 
ministers  labour  for  want  of  a  liberal  main- 
tenance from  the  congregations  they  serve, 
but  a  pastoral  letter  may  cover  more  ground 
than  the  salaries  of  the  ministers.  The  war  had 
closed  with  the  triumph  of  the  American  arms. 
Independence  had  been  won  after  long  and 
severe  years.  This  pastoral  letter,  like  that  of 
1776,  could  not  avoid  reference  to  the  war.  It 
shows  the  same  religious  feeling,  the  same 
patriotic  spirit.  "We  cannot  help  congratu- 
lating you,"  say  these  ministers  (of  course  they 
couldn't ;  some  of  them  had  fought  in  the  war), 
"on  the  general  and  almost  universal  attachment 
of  the  Presbyterian  body  to  the  cause  of  liberty 
and  the  rights  of  mankind.  This  has  been 
visible  in  their  conduct,  and  has  been  confessed 
by  the  complaints  and  resentment  of  the  com- 
mon enemy.  Such  a  circumstance  ought  not 
only  to  afford  us  satisfaction  on  the  review  as 


168  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

bringing  credit  to  the  body  in  general,  but  to 
increase  our  gratitude  to  God  for  the  happy 
issue  of  the  war.  Had  it  been  unsuccessful  we 
must  have  drunk  deeply  of  the  cup  of  suffer- 
ing. Our  burnt  and  wasted  churches,  and  our 
plundered  dwellings,  in  such  places  as  fell  under 
the  power  of  our  adversaries,  are  but  an  earnest 
of  what  we  must  have  suffered  had  they  finally 
prevailed." 

Bibles  were  very  scarce  in  America  in  1783. 
Before  the  war  efforts  had  been  made  by  the 
Synod  and  several  Presbyteries  to  supply  the 
lack  of  them.  There  were  few  printing  houses 
in  America  to  publish  them.  As  soon  after  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  as  practicable, 
Aitken,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Collins,  editor  of 
the  New  Jersey  Gazette,  and  state  printer,  had 
made  impressions  of  the  Bible.  The  Presbytery 
of  New  Jersey,  urged  by  Witherspoon,  had  rec- 
ommended the  people  to  patronize  Mr.  Collins. 
In  1783  the  Synod  in  session  at  Philadelphia 
"  Ordered,  That  every  member  of  this  body 
shall  use  his  utmost  influence  in  the  congre- 
gation under  his  inspection,  and  in  the  vacan- 
cies contiguous  to  them  to  raise  contributions 
for  the  purchasing  of  Bibles."  Three  Philadel- 
phia ministers  were  charged  with  the  duty  of 
obtaining  the  Bibles  with  the  money  collected 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     169 

and  sending  them  to  the  most  needy  districts. 
"And  as  Mr.  Aitken,  from  laudable  motives, 
and  with  great  expense,  hath  undertaken  and 
executed  an  elegant  impression  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  which,  on  account  of  the  importa- 
tion of  Bibles  from  Europe,  will  be  very  in- 
jurious to  his  temporal  circumstances :  Synod 
further  agree,  that  the  above  committee  shall 
purchase  Bibles  of  the  said  impression  and  no 
other,  and  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  to  pur- 
chase such  in  preference  to  any  other."  So  far 
as  I  know  this  is  the  first  protective  act  passed 
by  any  American  legislative  body  since  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  it  is  indic- 
ative of  the  temper  of  the  people  at  the  time. 
How  effective  it  was  I  cannot  say.  Two  years 
later  the  Synod  felt  obliged  to  renew  the  rec- 
ommendation as  to  the  collection  for  the  pur- 
chase of  Bibles. 

In  spite  of  the  war,  and  in  some  respects 
because  of  it,  Presbyterians  had  increased  in 
America.  There  was,  of  course,  very  little 
immigration.  Statistics  are  not  to  be  had. 
But  the  frontier  had  been  penetrated  and 
pushed  further  west  and  south.  New  Pres- 
byteries had  been  formed.  The  Synod  was 
too  large  and  too  cumbersome.  Members 
of  remote  Presbyteries  were  unable  to  attend. 


1 70  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

There  was,  however,  a  spirit  of  union  stronger 
than  ever  before.  The  church  had  won  great 
prestige  for  itself  as  the  friend  of  liberty.  Some 
other  churches  envied  the  Presbyterians  their 
popularity,  strength  and  influence.  The  min- 
isters who  came  to  Philadelphia  in  1786  were 
ready  to  hear  the  report  of  Witherspoon  and 
others  who  had  been  appointed  to  "  take  into 
consideration  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  and  other  Protestant  churches,  and 
agreeably  to  the  general  principles  of  Presby- 
terian government,  compile  a  system  of  general 
rules  for  the  government"  of  the  church,  and 
also  to  act  upon  an  overture  which  had  been 
sent  to  the  Presbyteries  the  year  before  to 
divide  the  Synod  into  three  or  more  and  form  a 
General  Assembly.  It  appears,  however,  that 
an  overture  did  not  mean  then  what  it  means  now. 
It  was  not  sent  down  for  the  adoption  or  re- 
jection of  the  Presbyteries.  It  was  nothing 
more  than  a  notice  to  the  Presbyteries  that 
such  action  was  intended  at  the  next  Synod. 
The  charge  has  been  made  that  the  Synod 
acted  beyond  its  just  rights.  Only  a  minority 
were  present,  it  is  true,  probably  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  ministers,  and  only  about  a  dozen 
elders.  But  every  Presbytery  had  received 
notice  and  every  minister  knew  what  was  going 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     171 

to  be  done.  The  Synod  of  1 786  did  not  exceed 
its  delegated  powers  in  the  case.  The  very 
day,  Friday,  May  I9th,  had  been  stated  in  the 
notice  sent  to  the  Presbytery  as  the  time  when 
the  question  would  be  considered.  Ministers 
who  stayed  away  probably  felt  that  the  work 
would  be  done  quite  as  well  without  them  as 
with  them.  It  was  not  indifference  that  kept 
them  away,  but  a  physical  inability  to  attend. 

No  difference  of  opinion  is  mentioned.  The 
only  amendment  made  to  the  motion  that  the 
Synod  be  divided  into  three  was  that  it  be 
divided  into  three  or  more.  The  reason  given 
was  the  number  and  extent  of  the  churches 
under  their  care  and  the  inconvenience  of  the 
present  mode  of  government.  That  inconven- 
ience had  been  felt  for  many  years,  and  the  new 
form  of  governing  the  church  would  be  heartily 
welcomed  by  the  hard  worked  ministers,  who 
would  be  brought  into  closer  relations  with 
each  other  under  three  or  more  Synods  than 
was  possible  under  one.  And  the  motion  ap- 
pears to  have  passed  without  a  dissenting  vote. 

At  this  time  the  question  of  union  with  the 
Dutch  Reformed  and  Seceder  Churches  came 
up  again.  The  Synod  instructed  its  delegates, 
of  whom  Witherspoon  was  one,  to  inform  the 
other  churches  of  the  proposed  action  of  the 


172  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

Presbyterians  to  enlarge  their  form  of  govern- 
ment and  to  assure  those  churches  of  the 
continued  friendliness  of  the  Presbyterians,  but 
that  the  question  of  union  could  more  properly 
be  considered  after  the  proposed  changes  were 
made. 

The  committee  appointed  to  report  upon  a 
constitution  had  not  completed  their  work.  As 
one  means  of  facilitating  the  work  of  reorganiza- 
tion each  Presbytery  was  ordered  to  lay  before 
the  Synod  the  next  year  an  accurate  list  of  their 
settled  ministers  in  the  order  of  their  seniority, 
with  the  places  of  their  residence ;  and  also  of 
the  probationers,  and  vacant  congregations, 
under  their  care.  And  in  order  to  prevent 
irregularity,  uncertainty  and  waste  of  time,  that 
each  Presbytery  draw  up  their  report  in  writing 
and  appoint  a  member  to  deliver  it  to  the 
Synod.  So  began  a  custom  which  has  con- 
tinued without  any  change  ever  since. 

What  had  been  done  almost  every  year  and 
would  be  done  for  many  years  to  come  was 
done  this  year,  1787.  It  makes  one  wonder 
what  the  members  of  Synod  thought  of  them- 
selves in  acknowledging  annually  not  merely 
that,  in  the  language  of  another  church,  they 
had  done  those  things  they  ought  not  to  have 
done  and  left  undone  those  things  they  ought 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     173 

to  have  done,  but  to  record  in  their  minutes 
that  they  viewed  with  serious  concern  the  decay 
of  vital  religion  and  the  prevalence  of  im- 
morality, and  appointed  a  day  of  solemn 
fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer.  Yet  these 
sober  faced  men  were  not  morbid  pessimists. 
They  were  on  the  other  hand  hopeful  enthusi- 
asts. They  had  helped  to  create  a  great 
nation ;  were  soon  to  assist  in  forming  a 
strong  government  upon  the  deep  and  eternal 
foundations  of  humanity  and  righteousness. 
They  believed  in  God  and  a  straight  rifle-barrel, 
especially  those  who  lived  on  the  frontier.  Cities 
grew  by  their  genius,  and  the  face  of  nature 
changed  under  their  hands  from  a  wilderness, 
peopled  by  savages  and  wild  beasts,  to  com- 
monwealths of  power,  learning  and  enterprise. 

When  the  Assembly  met  the  next  year  copies 
of  "  the  draught  of  a  plan  of  government "  had 
already  been  distributed  to  the  Presbyteries 
which  had  time  to  act  upon  it,  if  they  thought 
proper,  and  after  a  few  items  of  routine  busi- 
ness had  been  cleared  from  the  docket  the 
several  Presbyteries  were  ordered  to  bring  in 
their  observations  upon  the  proposed  constitu- 
tion. Each  Presbytery  in  turn  gave  its  report. 
Witherspoon  wrote  the  Introduction.  The 
time-worn,  slightly  faded,  but  easily  legible 


174  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

copy  of  the  preliminary  principles  in  his  hand, 
which  is  before  me  as  I  write,  differs  in  very 
slight  verbal  particulars  from  the  printed 
sections  which  compose  the  first  chapter  of  the 
present  constitution.  The  first  sentence  of  the 
introductory  paragraph  has  been  changed,  but 
the  few  alterations  made  by  the  Synod  in  the 
seven  sections  have  in  no  case  modified  the 
ideas  which  Witherspoon  conceived  to  be  those 
for  the  maintenance  of  which  the  Presbyterian 
Church  justifies  its  existence.  They  express 
his  personal  conviction,  having  first  been 
drawn  up  by  himself  alone,  then  submitted  to 
his  colleagues  on  the  committee  and  finally 
passed  upon  by  the  church  at  large.  It  would 
be  fatuous  to  claim  that  Witherspoon  originated 
these  ideas,  it  would  be  false  to  deny  that  he 
believed  them.  None  the  less  is  credit  due  to 
him  for  the  greatness  of  these  truths  whose 
value  he  recognized  and  which  he  expressed  so 
simply  and  forcibly.  He  declares  that  God 
alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience  and  hath  left  it 
free  from  the  doctrines  or  commandments  of 
men.  Therefore  he  considers  the  right  of 
private  judgment,  in  all  matters  that  regard 
religion,  as  universal  and  inalienable.  Here  is 
none  of  the  intolerance  so  frequently  charged 
against  Presbyterians  of  Witherspoon's  stamp. 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     175 

He  repudiates  any  desire  to  see  any  religion 
established  by  the  State.  He  believes  in  a  free 
church  as  well  as  a  free  State.  In  perfect  con- 
sistency with  this  principle,  and,  he  might  have 
added,  because  of  it,  every  Christian  church  is 
entitled  to  prescribe  the  terms  of  admission 
into  it,  even  though  they  may  mistake  in  mak- 
ing the  terms  too  lax  or  too  narrow  ;  but  even 
in  this  case  they  do  not  encroach  on  the  rights 
of  others  but  err  in  the  use  or  abuse  of  their 
own.  Here  is  frank  confession ;  here  is  no 
claim  to  infallibility,  no  spirit  of  absolutism. 
Such  a  church,  nevertheless  has  a  right,  should 
exercise  the  duty,  of  censuring  the  erroneous 
and  casting  out  the  scandalous.  Even  the 
civil  government  deals  thus  with  its  offenders. 
Witherspoon  had  contended  all  his  life  that,  as 
he  expressed  it  in  Scotland,  "  Truth  is  in  order 
to  goodness."  Those  doctrines  are  valuable 
and  true  which  form  good  character  and  lead 
to  right  conduct.  The  connection  is  in- 
separable ^between  faith  and  practice.  In  con- 
formity with  his  belief  in  the  right  of  private 
judgment  he  declares  that  all  ecclesiastical 
authority  is  derived  ultimately  from  the  people. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  no  church  court  ought 
to  pretend  to  make  laws  to  bind  the  conscience 
in  virtue  of  their  own  authority.  Tyranny  and 


ij6  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

absolutism  are  abhorrent  to  this  high-minded 
lover  of  liberty.  His  last  principle  is  that 
since  all  discipline  must  be  purely  moral  and 
spiritual  in  its  object  and  not  attended  with 
any  temporal  effect  it  can  derive  no  force 
whatever  but  from  its  own  justice,  the  approba- 
tion of  an  impartial  public,  and  the  countenance 
and  blessing  of  Christ. 

These  are  the  principles  which  Presbyterians 
had  advocated  from  the  beginning,  which,  now 
so  concisely  and  plainly  expressed  by  Wither- 
spoon,  became  the  unchanged  law  of  the  church 
for  its  unfolding  life  of  a  century  and  a  quarter. 
So  simple  and  clear  are  these  vigorous  sentences 
that  no  further  explanation  of  them  is  neces- 
sary. 

Following  them,  in  the  constitution  of  the 
church,  are  those  details  of  organization  known 
as  Presbyterian,  which  call  for  no  further  recital 
here.  The  American  church  followed  in  the 
main  the  constitution  of  the  established  church 
of  Scotland,  which  had  been  the  ecclesiastical 
law  of  that  land  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years. 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  in  the  record  of  the 
discussion,  that  almost  the  only  thing  of  im- 
portance that  interrupted  the  proceedings  of  the 
Synod,  was  a  case  of  discipline  appealed  from 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     177 

the  church  of  Nola  Chuckey  in  the  Presbytery 
of  Hanover,  Virginia.  It  is  an  example  of  the 
workings  of  the  Presbyterian  system,  and  the 
intricate  questions  involved  were  fittingly  re- 
ferred to  a  committee  consisting  of  the  ablest 
men  of  the  Synod,  Witherspoon,  author  of  the 
principles  just  enacted  into  the  law  of  the 
church,  Drs.  Sproat,  Rodgers,  Ewing,  Duffield 
and  McWhorter,  men  whose  work  for  Presby- 
terianism,  and  the  independence  of  the  colonies, 
gave  to  the  litigants  every  confidence  in  their 
impartial  judgment.  Three  of  these  men  had 
been  chaplains  in  the  Continental  army,  one  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  and  Witherspoon  a 
prominent  member  of  that  body.  Into  the  laby- 
rinth of  this  story  of  protest,  appeal,  mob  and 
riot,  political  discussion,  individual  rights,  defa- 
mation of  character  and  breach  of  discipline,  I 
do  not  propose  to  lead  the  reader.  The  parties 
were  present  and  appeared  before  this  commit- 
tee whose  comprehensive  report  to  Synod  shows 
how  wisely  and  tactfully  these  experienced  men 
dealt  with  the  question  so  slight  in  the  historical 
view,  so  momentous  for  the  persons  concerned. 
The  opponents  shook  hands,  accepted  the  ad- 
vice of  the  committee  and  the  decision  of  the 
Synod,  and  went  back  to  Virginia  in  peace. 
Although  there  is  no  record  of  Witherspoon's 


178  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

personal  opinion  of  slavery,  it  is  fair  to  infer 
what  he  thought  from  his  concurrence  in  a  reso- 
lution adopted  by  this  Synod  of  1787.  The 
committee  of  overtures,  of  which  he  was  not  a 
member,  had  brought  in  a  resolution  stating 
that  "  The  Creator  of  the  world  having  made  of 
one  flesh  all  the  children  of  men  .  .  .  the 
Synod  recommend,  in  the  warmest  terms,  to 
every  member  of  their  body,  to  do  everything 
in  their  power  consistent  with  the  rights  of  civil 
society,  to  promote  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and 
the  instruction  of  negroes,  whether  bond  or  free." 
It  was  late  on  Saturday  afternoon  when  this 
was  read  by  the  clerk,  too  late  for  a  full  discus- 
sion of  such  an  important  resolution.  It  lay 
over  until  Monday.  On  that  day  a  new  resolu- 
tion embodying  the  same  ideas  was  introduced 
and  passed  unanimously,  declaring  that  the 
Synod  highly  approve  of  the  interest  which 
many  of  the  states  have  taken  in  promoting  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  Then  follow  those  clauses, 
the  sensible  principle  of  which  might  well  have 
been  recognized  by  the  radical  politicians  who 
passed  the  fifteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States.  For,  had  it  been  rec- 
ognized, the  country  might  have  been  saved 
from  the  bitterness  of  sectional  rancour  and  the 
extreme  reaction  of  disfranchisement  which  ex- 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     179 

perience  has  made  necessary  if  the  government 
of  the  former  slaveholding  states  is  to  be  kept 
safe  and  stable  and  pure.  The  Synod  wisely 
go  on  to  say,  "  yet,  inasmuch  as  men  introduced 
from  a  servile  state  to  a  participation  of  all  the 
privileges  of  civil  society,  without  a  proper  edu- 
cation ;  and  without  previous  habits  of  industry, 
may  be  in  many  respects  dangerous  to  the  com- 
munity, therefore  they  earnestly  recommend  it 
to  all  the  members  belonging  to  their  com- 
munion to  give  those  persons  who  are  at  pres- 
ent held  in  servitude,  such  good  education  as  to 
prepare  them  for  the  better  enjoyment  of 
freedom,"  and  they  further  recommended  mas- 
ters to  encourage  their  slaves'  aspiration  for 
freedom  and  to  "  use  the  most  prudent  measures 
to  procure  eventually  the  final  abolition  of 
slavery  in  America."  We  know  how  fatuous 
was  the  hope  of  abolition ;  nevertheless  it  was 
the  part  of  wisdom  in  those  states  where  aboli- 
tion was  accomplished  to  bring  it  about  grad- 
ually and  not  to  confer  the  franchise  wholesale 
on  people  incapable  of  using  the  privilege  to 
good  advantage. 

Of  quite  another  sort  was  the  very  next  ac- 
tion of  the  Synod.  The  doctrines  of  universal 
salvation  were  being  propagated.  These  the 
Synod  viewed  with  alarm,  and  expressed  their 


i8o  '          JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

utter  abhorrence  of  such  doctrines,  which  they 
regarded  as  subversive  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  religion  and  morality,  and  warned  their 
people  against  the  introductions  of  such  tenets. 
Witherspoon  fully  shared  this  abhorrence,  and 
it  is  not  impossible  that  he  was  the  author  of 
this  resolution. 

The  Westminster  Confession  ^of  Faith  was 
the  creed  of  the  American  Presbyterian  church. 
Not  the  least  change  in  its  theology  was  for  a 
moment  contemplated  by  the  Synod.  But  it 
was  necessary  to  revise  those  sections  of  the 
confession  which  set  forth  the  relation  of  church 
and  state.  The  confession  had  been  adopted 
originally  by  the  established  church  of  Great 
Britain,  and  had  remained,  since  1647,  the  creed 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  No  establishment 
of  religion  was  intended  in  America,  and  the 
revised  sections  merely  state  the  well-known 
principles  of  religious  liberty  which  Presbyte- 
rians have  always  maintained  in  America,  and 
for  which,  in  essence,  Witherspoon  had  con- 
tended in  Scotland. 

The  next  year  the  whole  of  the  Form  of 
Government,  Book  of  Discipline,  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Catechisms  were  gone  over  again,  in 
full,  except  that  chapter  of  the  directory  dealing 
with  church  censures  which  was  referred  to 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     181 

Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Smith  and  the  moderator 
to  revise  and  lay  before  the  General  Assembly. 
The  same  committee  were  appointed  to  revise 
the  section  relating  to  public  prayer  and  prayers 
used  on  other  occasions,  without  being  again 
considered  by  the  Synod,  and  to  have  it  printed 
along  with  the  constitution,  so  that  this  may  be 
regarded  practically  as  Witherspoon's  work. 
After  finally  approving  and  ratifying  their  two 
years'  work  and  attending  to  some  minor  items 
of  business  the  Synod  resolved  that  the  first 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  should  be 
held  in  the  Second  Church  of  Philadelphia,  to 
be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Witherspoon, 
or  in  his  absence  by  Dr.  Rodgers. 

The  text  of  Witherspoon's  sermon  at  the 
opening  of  the  Assembly  was  I  Cor.  3 :  7, 
"  So  then  neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything, 
neither  he  that  watereth  :  but  God  that  giveth 
the  increase."  Then  Dr.  John  Rodgers  was 
chosen  moderator.  He  immediately  made 
Witherspoon  the  head  of  a  committee  to  ex- 
amine the  credentials  of  the  members,  and  like- 
wise appointed  a  committee  on  bills  and  over- 
tures. These  two  items  attended  to,  the  first 
motion  considered  by  the  newly  organized 
Assembly  was  that  an  address  be  presented  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  George 


182  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

Washington  had  been  inaugurated  just  twenty- 
one  days  before  and  the  Synod  embraced  the 
earliest  opportunity  to  present  him  a  con- 
gratulatory address.  Other  churches  did  like- 
wise and  to  all  of  them  he  replied.  The  address 
of  the  Presbyterians  prepared  by  Witherspoon 
is  not  long,  for  such  a  document,  recognizing 
the  country's  debt  to  Washington  and  con- 
gratulating the  country  upon  his  election.  It  is 
the  dignified  and  fitting  tribute  of  a  great  church 
to  a  great  man. 

Witherspoon  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Assembly  of  1790,  but  in  1791  was  appointed 
chairman  of  a  committee  to  devise  means  to 
prepare  a  history  of  the  church.  But  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  committee  ever  did  any- 
thing. His  name  is  mentioned  only  three  times 
in  the  minutes  of  1 792,  first  as  having,  as  usual, 
arrived  late,  second  as  being  appointed  one  of 
the  committee  to  confer  with  the  Congregation- 
alists,  and  lastly  as  appointed  to  supply  the 
pulpit  at  Elizabethtown  the  last  Sabbath  in 
July,  and  Mr.  Snowden's  pulpit  the  third 
Sabbath  in  June.  The  General  Assembly  acted 
in  a  Presbyterial  capacity  in  this  way  for  several 
years.  In  1794  Witherspoon  appeared  for  the 
last  time  at  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 
But  the  minutes  do  not  indicate  that  he  took 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH     183 

any  part  in  the  proceedings.  The  last  ecclesi- 
astical gathering  he  attended  was  a  meeting  of 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  at 
New  York,  October  21,  1794.  He  died  less 
than  a  month  afterwards. 

From  the  notices  of  his  associates  one  gains 
the  impression  that  most  of  them  regarded  him 
with  a  feeling  that  was  more  than  respect  and 
amounted  almost  to  awe.  It  was  said  of  him 
that  he  had  more  of  what  we  might  call  "  pres- 
ence "  than  any  man  in  America  except  George 
Washington.  His  manner  in  the  pulpit  was 
both  impressive  and  captivating.  John  Adams, 
who  heard  him  several  times,  regarded  him  as 
a  very  fine  preacher,  although  he  tells  us  that  a 
most  excellent  sermon  on  redeeming  time  which 
he  heard  in  the  spring  of  1777,  was  not  remem- 
bered so  well  as  others.  Adams  thought  the 
necessity  of  speaking  without  formal  preparation 
in  Congress  had  impaired  his  oratorical  powers, 
for  Witherspoon  was  accustomed  to  write  and 
memorize  his  sermons.  That  he  did  not  write 
all  his  sermons  is  shown  by  the  bare  outlines  of 
several  among  his  manuscripts.  In  later  life 
his  eyesight  became  impaired  and  the  student 
who  was  his  amanuensis  tells  us  that  after  he 
became  partially  blind,  in  1791,  he  committed 
some  of  his  sermons  to  memory  as  he  composed 


i84  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

them  without  writing,  although  he  also  dictated 
others.  It  is  unnecessary  to  attempt  any  esti- 
mate of  his  influence  as  a  churchman.  The 
minutes  of  the  Presbytery,  Synods  and  General 
Assembly  show  us  that  he  was  foremost  in  all 
the  important  work  of  the  church.  It  was  by 
his  influence  that  the  American  church  followed 
the  model  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Yet  his 
sincere  efforts  to  win  the  Congregational  and 
Dutch  Reformed  churches,  prove  that  he  did 
not  lack  a  conciliatory  spirit.  Strong  in  his 
belief  in  the  Westminster  Confession,  and 
attached  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  govern- 
ment as  a  scriptural  system,  he  felt  justified  in 
urging  their  claims  with  all  the  force  of  his 
vigorous  mind.  His  energy,  his  virile  temper, 
and  his  genius  for  organization  largely  con- 
tributed to  the  Presbyterian  church  the  spirit 
and  ambition  which  made  it  so  effective  in  his 
life  and  has  carried  it  steadily  forward  in  its 
work  for  humanity. 


IV 

WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN 

i.    THE  NEW  JERSEY  CONVENTION 

FROM  the  day  that  he  landed  in  America 
until  the  Revolution  Witherspoon  was  a  high 
type  of  British  colonist.  Scotchman  as  he  was, 
he  was  British  in  sentiment  and  devotion. 
But  he  was  likewise  American  to  the  core. 
He  early  perceived  the  possibilities  of  the  new 
country.  Its  resources  amazed  him.  The  rich 
fertility  of  the  soil,  especially  that  which  lay  in- 
land along  the  streams  appealed  to  him  in 
contrast  with  the  less  productive  land  in  Scot- 
land. He  was  delighted  with  the  men  whom 
he  met  and  with  the  towns  they  had  built.  His 
admiration  was  not  effusive,  but  his  practical 
eye  saw  the  evident  advantages  that  would  ac- 
crue from  hard  work.  Clergyman  and  educator 
though  he  was,  following  professions  not  con- 
ducive to  business  sagacity,  he  had  no  hesita- 
tion in  engaging  in  such  enterprises  as  he 
thought  would  be  profitable.  He  became  one 
of  a  company  which  obtained  from  the  crown 
a  large  grant  of  land  in  Nova  Scotia.  Wither- 

185 


1 86  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

spoon  appears  to  have  had  friends  at  court  to 
whom,  as  in  the  case  of  the  charter  for  the 
Widows'  Fund,  he  could  apply  for  aid. 
Whether  he  used  this  friend  on  this  occasion 
I  do  not  know.  But  he  used  his  own  name 
freely,  as  he  might  very  properly,  to  advertise, 
not  only  his  land  in  Nova  Scotia  but  the 
general  advantages  Jn  America,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  encouraging  emigration.  When  John 
Adams  was  at  Princeton  in  1774,  Witherspoon 
said  the  Congress  ought  to  urge  every  colony 
to  form  a  society  to  encourage  Protestant 
emigration  from  the  three  kingdoms  of  Great 
Britain.  It  was  this  motive  more  largely  than 
the  hope  of  making  money  that  induced  him 
to  join  the  Nova  Scotia  land  company.  When 
his  name  appeared  in  the  advertisements  in 
Scotch  papers,  some  of  his  old  enemies  in 
that  land  took  occasion  to  attack  him. 
Ordinarily  he  let  such  things  pass,  but  as 
injury  might  be  done  to  possible  emigrants 
induced  to  come  to  America  by  other  land 
speculators  and  as  he  was  accused  of  being  an 
enemy  to  his  country,  he  felt  obliged  to  reply. 
The  charge  narrowed  down  to  this,  to  use  his 
own  words :  "  Migrations  from  Britain  to 
America  are  not  only  hurtful  but  tend  to  the 
ruin  of  that  country ;  therefore,  John  Wither- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     187 

spoon,  by  inviting  people  to  leave  Scotland 
and  settle  in  America  is  an  enemy  to  his 
country."  In  a  long  letter  to  the  Scots 
Magazine  he  shows  the  folly  of  such  an  argu- 
ment. His  only  reason  for  going  into  the 
company,  he  declares,  was  "  that  it  would  give 
people,  who  intended  to  come  out,  greater 
confidence  that  they  should  meet  with  fair 
treatment,  and  that  I  should  the  more  effectu- 
ally answer  that  purpose,  one  of  the  express 
conditions  of  my  joining  the  company  was, 
that  no  land  should  be  sold  dearer  to  any 
coming  from  Scotland  than  I  should  direct," 
surely  a  fine  evidence  of  his  associates'  con- 
fidence in  his  integrity.  He  felt  obliged  to 
make  this  stipulation  because  many  wildcat 
schemes  were  advertised  abroad  offering  land 
at  a  rental  per  acre  which  equalled  the  value 
of  the  acre  itself.  Land  in  America  was  re- 
markably cheap  compared  with  the  price  in 
Scotland,  but  Witherspoon  reminded  his  readers 
that  the  value  of  it  depended  more  upon  its 
neighbourhood  than  upon  its  quality.  The 
letter  displays  an  astonishingly  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  details  of  real  estate,  most 
unexpected  in  one  whose  chief  repute  was  due 
to  theological  learning.  Already  he  caught 
the  import  of  the  drift  of  population  inland  to 


i88  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

the  rich  soils  towards  and  beyond  the  moun- 
tains. As  for  the  charge  that  he  is  an  enemy 
to  his  country  he  replies,  "  I  cannot  help  think- 
ing it  is  doing  a  real  service  to  my  country 
when  I  show  that  those  of  them  who  find  it 
difficult  to  subsist  on  the  soil  in  which  they 
were  born,  may  easily  transport  themselves  to 
a  soil  vastly  superior  to  that."  His  hope  was, 
not  that  Scotland  should  send  out  men  who 
would  take  up  large  tracts  and  become  landed 
proprietors  on  a  large  scale,  but  that  farmers, 
willing  to  work  the  land  themselves  might  take 
small  holdings.  It  is  shameful,  he  feels,  for 
men  to  deceive  intending  settlers,  and  protests 
against  the  unjust  charges  of  his  enemies. 
"For  my  own  part,"  he  concludes,  "my  in- 
terest in  the  matter  is  not  great ;  but  since 
Providence  has  sent  me  to  this  part  of  the 
world,  and  since  so  much  honour  has  been  done 
me  as  to  suppose  that  my  character  might  be 
some  security  against  fraud  and  imposition,  I 
shall  certainly  look  upon  it  as  my  duty  to  do 
every  real  service  in  my  power,  to  such  of  my 
countrymen  as  shall  fall  in  my  way,  and  that 
either  desire  or  seem  to  need  my  assistance." 

The  result  was  that  many  Scotch  families  set- 
tled in  Nova  Scotia,  whose  descendants  com- 
pose to-day  the  sturdiest  and  most  upright  por- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     189 

tion  of  the  population.  His  profits  from  the 
venture  were  not  large,  but  sufficient  to  induce 
him  to  invest  again  in  New  Hampshire  lands 
by  which  he  is  believed  to  have  lost  money. 
American  interests  of  every  kind  suffered 
from  the  dense  ignorance  of  the  British.  Not 
only  in  political  matters,  but  also  in  religious, 
ignorant  critics  proved  very  annoying  to  the 
American  Church.  Already  I  have  called  at- 
tention to  the  Synod's  custom  of  sending  a  let- 
ter annually  to  Scotland.  The  American  Pres- 
byterians were  independent  of  the  established 
Church  of  Scotland,  nor  did  they  seek  to  be 
placed  under  Scottish  jurisdiction,  as  the  Epis- 
copalians sought  to  have  the  Church  of  England 
control  the  colonial  church.  But  they  recog- 
nized the  close  relationship  existing  between  the 
Presbyterianism  of  the  two  countries.  Wither- 
spoon  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  friends  in 
Scotland,  especially  those  in  Glasgow  and  Edin- 
burgh. The  Scots  Magazine  came  to  him  regu- 
larly, and  his  friends  often  sent  him  copies  of 
other  periodicals  which  might  be  of  interest  to 
him.  In  a  copy  of  the  Scots  Magazine  late  in 
1770,  was  a  letter  commenting  severely  upon  a 
sermon  preached  at  Boston  by  Dr.  Joseph 
Lathrop,  on  the  "  outrage  "  known  as  the  Bos- 
ton Massacre,  which  was  in  reality  a  justifiable 


190  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

defense  of  British  soldiers  against  a  Boston 
mob,  but  which  the  overwrought  people  seized 
upon  as  an  example  of  British  tyranny.  Dr. 
Lathrop's  sermon,  which  was  published  and 
circulated,  served  to  fan  the  flames.  While  it 
was  probably  correct  in  its  general  presentation 
of  the  popular  feeling  about  the  incident  in  par- 
ticular, and  towards  the  British  in  general,  the 
sermon  was  unwise  and  also  unfair,  in  its  pic- 
ture of  the  occasion  itself.  John  Adams  was 
one  of  the  lawyers  who  secured  the  acquittal  of 
all  the  soldiers  but  two,  who  were  let  off  with  a 
light  fine.  The  populace  began  the  trouble, 
and  the  soldiers  acted  in  self-defense.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  soldiers  served  to  exasperate  the 
people,  but  the  conflict  itself  was  caused  by  the 
latter.  In  any  event  the  British  public  con- 
demned the  American  attitude.  But  this  writer 
in  the  Scots  Magazine  made  the  mistake  of 
using  Dr.  Lathrop's  sermon  to  strike  at  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  The 
annual  letter  from  the  Synod  had  been  received 
a  short  time  before,  "  on  the  reading  of  which," 
says  the  author,  "  I  could  not  help  thinking  if 
we  may  judge  of  the  American  Church  from  the 
sample  here  given  that  our  church  derives  no 
great  honour  from  her  western  progeny ;  but  I 
hope  the  stock  is  better  than  the  sample."  That 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     191 

was  too  much  for  Witherspoon.  He  tells  the 
writer  that  his  criticism  has  only  served  to  be- 
tray his  ignorance.  The  Synod  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  does  not  extend  as  far  as  Bos- 
ton. He  does  not  mean  to  disclaim  connection 
with  the  churches  of  New  England.  "They 
are  a  most  respectable  part  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  Nor  do  I  think  that  any  part  of  the 
British  empire  is  at  this  day  equal  to  them  for 
real  religion  and  sound  morals."  And  he  begs 
the  magazine  not  to  publish  anything  upon 
American  affairs  unless  the  writers  understand 
them. 

In  private  letters  also  he  found  it  necessary 
to  assure  his  friends  that  the  people  of  America 
were  quite  as  respectable,  fully  as  civilized,  and 
often  more  learned  than  many  at  home  in  Scot- 
land and  England.  It  was  his  opinion  in  1774 
that  the  Continental  Congress  might  wisely  em- 
ploy capable  writers  to  inform  the  British  public 
by  pamphlets  and  through  the  newspapers,  of 
the  real  condition  of  American  politics.  He 
himself  reminded  the  British  that  if  they  per- 
sisted in  taxing  the  growing  trade  of  America, 
which  was  contributing  to  British  prosperity, 
more  than  the  trade  of  any  other  foreign  coun- 
try, they  would  lose  rather  than  gain.  He  de- 
fied Great  Britain  to  produce  a  man  more  loyal 


192  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

than  himself  to  the  crown,  and  avows  that  for 
this  very  reason  he  maintains  the  rights  of 
America.  Instead  of  distressing  and  alienating 
the  colonies,  the  government  should  attach  them 
to  itself.  For  American  strength  and  prosperity 
meant  British  strength  and  prosperity.  "  That 
you  may  not  pass  sentence  upon  me  imme- 
diately," he  says  in  an  article  "  On  Conducting 
the  American  Controversy,"  written  in  1773, 
"as  an  enemy  to  the  royal  authority,  and  a  son 
of  sedition,  I  declare  that  I  esteem  His  Majesty 
King  George  the  Third,  to  have  the  only  right- 
ful and  lawful  title  to  the  British  crown.  .  .  . 
I  will  go  a  little  further  and  say  that  I  not  only 
revere  him  as  the  first  magistrate  of  the  realm, 
but  I  love  and  honour  him  as  a  man  and  am 
persuaded  that  he  wishes  the  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  his  people  in  every  part  of  his 
dominions.  Nay,  I  have  still  more  to  say,  I  do 
not  think  the  British  ministry  themselves  have 
deserved  all  the  abuse  and  foul  names  that  have 
been  bestowed  on  them  by  political  writers. 
The  steps  which  they  have  taken  with  respect  to 
American  affairs,  and  which  I  esteem  to  be  un- 
just, impolitic,  and  barbarous  to  the  highest  de- 
gree, have  been  chiefly  owing  to  the  two  fol- 
lowing causes :  i.  Ignorance,  or  mistake  oc- 
casioned by  the  misinformation  of  interested  and 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     193 

treacherous  persons  employed  in  their  service. 
2.  The  prejudices  common  to  them,  with  per- 
sons of  all  ranks  in  the  Island  of  Great  Britain." 
Ignorance  and  prejudice  lay  at  the  bottom  of 
the  whole  bad  business.  Witherspoon  said  in 
the  same  article,  "  A  man  will  become  an  Amer- 
ican by  residing  in  the  country  three  months." 
"  I  have  often  said  to  friends  in  America,  on 
that  subject,  it  is  not  the  king  and  ministry  so 
much  as  the  prejudices  of  Britons  with  which 
you  have  to  contend.  Spare  no  pains  to  have 
them  fully  informed.  Add  to  the  immovable 
firmness  with  which  you  justly  support  your 
own  rights  a  continual  solicitude  to  convince 
the  people  of  Great  Britain  that  it  is  not  pas- 
sion, but  reason  that  inspires  you.  Tell  them 
it  cannot  be  ambition,  but  necessity,  that  makes 
you  run  an  evident  risk  of  the  heaviest  suffer- 
ings, rather  than  forfeit  for  yourselves  and  your 
posterity  the  greatest  of  all  earthly  blessings." 
Witherspoon  condemns  "  the  shameless,  gross, 
indecent  and  groundless  abuse  of  the  king  and 
his  family,"  but  he  adds  that,  "Far  greater  in- 
sults were  offered  to  the  sovereign  within  the 
city  of  London  and  within  the  verge  of  the 
court,  than  were  ever  thought  of  or  would  have 
been  permitted  by  the  mob  in  any  part  of 
America." 


194  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

From  the  outset  Witherspoon  kept  himself 
well  informed  on  American  affairs.  He  sub- 
scribed regularly  for  three  papers,  one  published 
in  New  York,  another  in  Philadelphia  and  a 
third,  the  New  Jersey  State  Gazette.  Besides 
these  papers  he  read  numerous  pamphlets, 
some  of  which  he  bought,  others  being  the 
gifts  of  friends  who  knew  his  interest  in  all 
public  questions.  Politics,  trade,  emigration, 
religion,  domestic  relation,  foreign  questions, 
all  the  various  items  presented  in  a  news- 
paper, even  to  the  personalities  and  correspond- 
ence, were  carefully  noted  by  him.  He  was  a 
frequent  contributor  to  the  papers,  sometimes 
over  his  own  name,  often  using  a  pseudonym. 

From  the  beginning  he  perceived  the  right- 
eousness of  the  American  claims,  and  the  utter 
futility  of  the  stupid  measures  adopted  by  the 
British  government  towards  the  colonies.  He 
abstained  from  any  reference  to  political 
matters  in  the  pulpit.  In  his  private  letters 
to  friends  in  Scotland  he  frankly  expressed 
his  opinions,  and  in  personal  interviews 
with  other  Americans  his  sympathies  for 
America  were  freely  spoken.  The  boys  of 
Princeton  College  knew  what  their  president 
thought.  The  trustees  might  adopt  rules  of 
caution  to  prevent  rash  statements  by  the 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     195 

young  orators,  but  Witherspoon's  enforcement 
of  this  rule  was  never  beyond  the  letter  of  the 
law.  In  1 769,  while  the  crisis  was  still  impend- 
ing, Princeton  had  taken  a  middle  ground  in 
conferring  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  upon  two 
Americans  whose  writings  had  attracted  wide 
attention,  John  Dickinson,  the  author  of 
"  Letters  of  An  American  Farmer,"  and  Joseph 
Galloway,  whose  adherence  to  the  British 
crown  carried  him  over  to  the  Tory  side. 
Dickinson  had  written  most  powerfully  against 
the  fatal  course  of  England  and  Galloway  had 
plead  most  strongly  for  colonial  caution,  de- 
ploring the  sentiment  in  favour  of  resistence 
by  force,  or  of  independence.  Later  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congress  of  17  74  he  urged  upon  that 
body  a  union  of  the  colonies  in  a  general  con- 
gress under  control  of  the  crown.  But  the 
temper  neither  of  America  nor  England  was 
ready  to  entertain  that  suggestion. 

Witherspoon's  first  public  appearance  in  con- 
nection with  the  American  cause  was  at  New 
Brunswick,  where  a  convention  assembled 
July  21,  1774.  He  represented  Somerset 
County.  Among  other  members  of  the  conven- 
tion were  Jonathan  Baldwin,  the  steward  of 
Princeton  College,  Wm.  P.  Smith,  John  Kinsey, 
Wm.  Livingston,  trustees  of  the  college,  Jere- 


196  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

miah  Halsey,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  besides 
other  trustees  and  close  friends.  Witherspoon 
and  Livingston  urged  the  convention  to  adopt 
a  resolution  against  paying  for  the  tea  which 
Great  Britain  would  force  upon  America.  The 
resolutions  as  adopted,  however,  were  not  as 
strong  as  Witherspoon  desired.  To  us  who 
read  them  to-day,  as  to  the  angry  ministers  of 
Great  Britain,  they  are  strong  enough.  Of 
course  they  declare  the  loyalty  of  all  Jersey  men 
to  King  George,  but  the  men  of  the  convention 
declare  that  they  feel  bound  to  oppose  the 
measures  of  the  crown  by  all  constitutional 
means  in  their  power.  They  announced  that, 
in  their  opinion,  it  was  the  duty  of  all  Americans 
heartily  to  unite  in  supporting  Massachusetts 
in  resisting  the  invasion  of  her  charter  rights, 
the  trial  of  supposed  offenders  by  the  courts  of 
other  colonies,  or  of  Great  Britain.  New 
Jersey  pledged  herself  "firmly  and  inviolably 
to  adhere  to  the  determinations  of  the  Con- 
gress," and  earnestly  recommended  "a  general 
non-importation  and  a  non-consumption  agree- 
ment "  and  that  the  several  county  committees 
should  collect  subscriptions  for  the  relief  of  the 
oppressed  people  of  Boston. 

Without  waiting  for  the  general  convention 
of  the  province  to  act,  several  counties  had  in- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     197 

dependently  adopted  resolutions,  copies  of  which 
having  come  into  the  governor's  hands,  he  had 
notified  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  of  them.  His 
letter  betrays  no  very  great  alarm.  He  doubts 
whether  the  people  of  the  province  will  enter 
into  a  non-importation  agreement  and  thinks 
the  Congress  to  be  summoned  "  will  apply  to 
his  Majesty  for  the  repeal  of  the  Boston  Port 
Act,  and  endeavour  to  fall  upon  measures  for 
accommodating  the  present  differences  between 
the  two  countries  and  preventing  the  like  in  fu- 
ture." How  little  he  or  the  British  ministers 
understood  the  temper  of  the  people  is  already 
known  to  us.  But  the  same  mistake  is  made 
more  apparent  by  a  reading  of  Witherspoon's 
opinion,  as  that  is  found  in  a  series  of  sugges- 
tions published  by  him  as  the  proper  course  for 
the  Congress  to  pursue.  These  were  written  in 
1774,  two  years  before  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Congress.  He  thinks,  "It  is  at  least  ex- 
tremely uncertain  whether  it  could  be  proper  or 
safe  for  the  Congress  to  send  either  ambassa- 
dors, petition,  or  address,  directly  to  king,  or 
parliament,  or  both.  They  may  treat  them  as 
a  disorderly,  unconstitutional  meeting — they 
may  hold  their  meeting  itself  to  be  criminal — 
they  may  find  so  many  objections  in  point  of 
legal  form,  that  it  is  plainly  in  the  power  of 


198  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

those,  who  wish  to  do  it,  to  deaden  the  zeal  of 
the  multitude  in  the  colonies  by  ambiguous, 
dilatory,  frivolous  answers,  perhaps  by  severer 
measures."  "  There  is  not  the  least  reason  as 
yet  to  think  that  either  the  king,  the  parliament, 
or  even  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  have  been 
able  to  enter  into  the  great  principles  of  universal 
liberty,  or  are  willing  to  hear  the  discussion  of 
the  point  of  right  without  prejudice"  This  esti- 
mate of  the  temper  of  the  British  is  quite  in  ac- 
cord with  the  conviction  which  Samuel  Adams 
had  reached  six  years  ago,  but  it  seems  to  have 
been  shared  by  very  few  other  public  men.  One 
of  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  New  Jersey 
convention  had  been  "That  the  grateful  ac- 
knowledgments of  this  body  are  due  to  the  no- 
ble and  worthy  patrons  of  constitutional  liberty, 
in  the  British  Senate,  for  their  laudable  efforts 
to  avert  the  storm  they  behold  impending  over 
a  much  injured  colony,  and  in  support  of  the 
just  rights  of  the  king's  subjects  in  America." 
The  Princeton  Scotchman  did  not  think  such  a 
resolution  would  avail  anything  in  the  present 
condition  of  English  politics.  The  speeches  of 
Englishmen  in  favour  of  granting  the  American 
claims  were  unavailing,  nor  did  the  colonists  re- 
ceive any  further  encouragement  from  their  par- 
liamentary friends,  nor  much  advice  as  to  the 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     199 

best  way  to  proceed.  Of  the  British  statesmen 
in  power  Witherspoon  said,  "They  have  not 
only  taken  no  pains  to  convince  us  that  sub- 
mission to  their  claims  is  consistent  with  liberty 
among  us,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  ex- 
pect, or  desire,  we  should  be  convinced  of  it.  It 
seems  rather  that  they  mean  to  force  us  to  be 
absolute  slaves,  knowing  ourselves  to  be  such 
by  the  hard  law  of  necessity.  If  this  is  not  their 
meaning,  and  they  wish  us  to  believe  that  our 
lives  and  properties  are  quite  safe  in  the  abso- 
lute disposal  of  the  British  Parliament,  the  late 
acts  with  respect  to  Boston,  to  ruin  their  capi- 
tal, destroy  their  charter,  and  grant  the  soldiers 
a  right  to  murder  them,  are  certainly  arguments 
of  a  very  singular  nature."  He  thinks,  there- 
fore, "  that  the  great  object  of  the  approaching 
Congress  should  be  to  unite  the  colonies  and 
make  them  as  one  body  in  any  measure  of  self- 
defense  ;  to  assure  the  people  of  Great  Britain 
that  we  will  not  submit  voluntarily,  and  con- 
vince them  that  it  would  be  either  impossible  or 
unprofitable  for  them  to  compel  us  by  open 
violence."  He  submits  to  the  consideration  of 
the  Congress  resolutions  which  are  unsurpassed 
for  boldness  and  flat  positiveness  by  any  other 
statements  of  the  period.  Profess  loyalty  to  the 
king,  but  declare  "  not  only  that  we  esteem  the 


200  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

claim  of  the  British  Parliament  to  be  illegal  and 
unconstitutional,  but  that  we  are  firmly  deter- 
mined never  to  submit  to  it,  and  do  deliberately 
prefer  war  with  all  its  horrors  and  even  exter- 
mination itself  to  slavery  rivetted  on  us  and  on 
our  posterity"  It  is  not  remarkable,  that  when 
the  Massachusetts  congressmen  reached  Prince- 
ton on  their  way  to  Philadelphia,  they  felt  they 
had  come  to  an  oasis  in  the  desert.  At  New 
York  and  several  places  in  Northern  New  Jer- 
sey, they  were  reviled  and  hooted,  threats  were 
made  against  them  as  disturbers  of  the  peace 
and  rebellious  advocates  of  independence.  But 
at  Princeton  the  atmosphere  was  clear.  With- 
erspoon  received  them  cordially,  entertained 
them  at  his  house  with  wine,  and  drank  coffee 
with  them  at  their  lodgings.  The  students 
showed  the  influence  of  their  president. 

The  other  recommendations  urged  the  closest 
union  of  the  colonies,  so  that  none  should  make 
a  separate  peace,  "  and  continue  united  till 
American  liberty  is  settled  on  a  solid  basis  "  ; 
that  a  non-importation  agreement,  too  long  de- 
layed, should  be  entered  into  immediately,  as 
well  as  a  non-consumptive  agreement.  After 
suggesting  measures  for  encouraging  desirable 
immigrants  he  insists  that  the  legislature  of 
every  colony  should  put  their  militia  on  the 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     201 

best  footing  ;  that  all  Americans  provide  them- 
selves with  arms  "  in  case  they  should  be  re- 
duced to  the  hard  necessity  of  defending  them- 
selves from  murder  and  assassination."  These 
strong  resolutions  had  their  effect  in  further 
stiffening  the  backbone  of  Jerseymen  like  Rich- 
ard Stockton  and  others  who  had  not  been 
ready  to  go  so  far,  so  that  eighteen  months  later 
Stockton  was  willing  to  go  to  Congress,  where 
he  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  A 
seventh  resolution  suggested  "  an  earnest  and 
affectionate  address  to  the  British  army  and 
navy  urging  them,  as  Britons,  not  to  bring  re- 
proach upon  themselves  as  the  instruments  of 
enslaving  their  country."  And  lastly,  the  neces- 
sity of  union  being  so  important  in  his  mind,  he 
begs  the  Congress  to  see  to  it  that  all  the  col- 
onies effectually  cooperate  for  the  common  de- 
fense. 

Witherspoon's  resolute  and  unyielding  spirit 
directed  the  attention  of  the  country  and  of  the 
government  to  New  Jersey.  The  colony  moved 
cautiously,  but  steadily  in  the  general  interest. 
In  Scotland  such  accounts  of  Witherspoon's 
share  in  the  opposition  were  spread  that  he  was 
cautioned  by  his  friends  and  decried  as  a  po- 
litical firebrand  by  his  enemies. 

For  the  next  year  and  a  half  Witherspoon 


202  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

was  most  energetic  as  the  head  of  the  Somerset 
County  committee  of  correspondence.  This 
committee  kept  a  watchful  eye  upon  suspicious 
people  in  their  midst  and  corresponded,  not 
only  with  committees  of  other  counties  in  New 
Jersey,  but  also  with  the  Council  of  Safety  in 
other  colonies. 

During  this  time  events  were  rapidly  coming 
to  a  head  elsewhere.  The  Congress  met  at 
Philadelphia  September  5,  1774,  an^  f°r  four 
weeks  considered  carefully  a  declaration  of 
rights  claiming  for  the  people  of  America  "  a  free 
and  exclusive  power  of  legislation  in  their  pro- 
vincial legislatures  where  their  rights  could 
alone  be  preserved  in  all  cases  of  taxation  and 
internal  polity."  They  declared  that  they 
would  never  permit  themselves  to  be  deprived 
of  certain  other  rights,  demanding  the  repeal 
of  those  acts  of  Parliament  by  which  these  had 
been  infringed.  They  then  formed  an  associa- 
tion for  preventing  commercial  intercourse  with 
Great  Britain  and  charged  the  committees  of 
correspondence  to  inspect  the  imports  at  all 
custom-houses.  Three  addresses  were  prepared, 
one  to  the  king,  one  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  the  last  to  the  people  of  America. 
After  appointing  the  loth  of  May,  1775,  for  the 
meeting  of  a  second  Congress,  inviting  Canada 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     203 

and  Florida  to  join  them  in  that  meeting,  the 
Congress  adjourned  on  the  26th  of  October. 

The  reception  given  these  proceedings  in 
England  was  exactly  such  as  Witherspoon  had 
intimated.  Chatham  might  declare  the  papers 
of  the  Congress  equal  to  any  state  papers  ever 
composed,  but  he  and  his  friends  were  unable 
to  change  the  mind  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
which  answered  the  appeals  of  the  Congress  by 
resolving  to  send  10,000  troops  under  General 
Howe  to  suppress  the  rebellious  colony  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. That  Howe  had  declared  himself  a 
friend  of  America  and,  perhaps  sincerely,  be- 
lieved he  might  be  received  as  the  bearer  of  Lord 
North's  olive  branch,  did  not  smooth  the  feelings 
of  the  Americans.  The  idea  of  the  ministry 
seemed  to  be  that  this  method  would  appease  the 
aroused  colonists  and  save  the  pride  of  Eng- 
land. During  all  this  time  the  men  of  America 
were  meeting  almost  daily  on  the  village  drill- 
grounds,  and  collecting  arms  and  ammunition. 
New  Jersey  was  not  behind  the  other  colonies 
in  this  respect,  nor  Somerset  County  lacking  in 
military  zeal.  When  news  of  the  engagements 
at  Lexington  and  Concord  spread  over  the  land 
and  troops  from  every  colony  instantly  began 
the  march  to  Boston,  some  of  Witherspoon's 
students  hastened  to  enlist,  one  of  them  his  own 


204  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

son  James  who,  however,  had  been  graduated 
in  1770.  Another  son,  John,  of  the  class  of 
1773,  had  studied  medicine  and  became  a  sur- 
geon in  the  Continental  army,  serving  from 
1776  until  near  the  close  of  the  war.  On  the 
loth  of  May,  1775,  the  day  that  the  second 
Congress  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  Ticon- 
deroga  was  captured  and  the  Congress  were 
under  the  necessity  of  providing,  not  for  a  pos- 
sible, but  an  actual  war.  The  temper  of  the 
Congress  was  shown  by  the  choice  of  John 
Hancock  as  president,  upon  whose  head  a  price 
had  been  set  by  the  king,  and  in  appointing 
George  Washington  Commander-in-chief  of 
the  Continental  forces  assembled  and  gathering 
at  Boston.  There  on  the  1 7th  of  June,  before 
Washington  could  arrive,  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  was  fought,  a  dearly  bought  victory  for  the 
British,  who  began  to  realize  that  their  task 
would  not  be  so  easy  as  the  confident  General 
Gage  had  imagined.  During  the  summer  of 
this  year  Witherspoon  worked  hard  at  the  effort 
to  furnish  the  five  companies  of  minutemen 
allotted  to  Somerset  County  and  in  nominating 
officers  for  them.  He  did  not  yet  feel  justified 
in  becoming  a  member  of  the  New  Jersey  Con- 
gress which  met  at  Trenton  in  October.  He 
remained  at  Princeton  endeavouring  to  carry  on 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     205 

the  college,  but  with  little  success.  In  the  pre- 
vailing excitement  few  students  attended  col- 
lege and  it  was  impossible  to  hold  a  meeting  of 
the  trustees,  many  of  whom  were  members  of 
committees  of  correspondence  for  their  several 
counties. 

Little  fighting  was  done  during  the  summer 
and  the  following  winter,  except  in  Canada. 
Washington  strengthened  his  positions  about 
Boston  without  any  serious  conflict  of  arms 
with  the  British,  but  pursued  such  fine  tactics 
that  the  British  were  obliged  to  evacuate  the 
city  in  March.  But  Witherspoon  was  alert  in 
his  own  sphere  and  took  part  in  the  war  of 
pamphlets,  although  not  so  conspicuously  as 
did  some  others.  In  January  Thomas  Paine, 
held  in  odium  and  undeserved  horror  for  his 
infidel  writings,  published  a  pamphlet  called 
"  Common  Sense "  in  which,  with  coarse  lan- 
guage and  vulgar  invective,  he  defended  the 
American  cause.  Although  not  finely  written, 
it  was  an  able  paper.  Washington  said  that  it 
"worked  a  powerful  change  in  the  minds  of 
many  men."  A  hundred  thousand  copies  were 
quickly  sold,  and  its  influence  was  undoubted. 
Witherspoon  was  magnanimous  enough  to  ac- 
knowledge its  merits  while  he  criticised  the 
style  of  it.  And  when  an  attack  was  made 


206  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

upon  it  by  another  pamphlet,  "  Plain  Truth," 
the  energetic  president  of  Princeton  took  up 
his  caustic  pen  to  defend  "  Common  Sense." 
He  wastes  no  words  in  coming  to  the  heart  of 
Paine' s  argument — who,  says  Witherspoon, 
"  wrote  it  to  shew  that  we  ought  not  to  seek  or 
wait  for  a  reconciliation  which  in  his  opinion  is 
now  become  both  impracticable  and  unprofitable, 
but  to  establish  a  fixed  regular  government  and 
provide  for  ourselves.  '  Plain  Truth,'  on  the  con- 
trary, never  attempts  to  shew  that  there  is  the 
least  probability  of  obtaining  reconciliation  on 
such  terms  as  will  preserve  and  secure  our 
liberties ;  but  has  exerted  all  his  little  force  to 
prove  that  such  is  the  strength  of  Great  Britain 
that  it  will  be  in  vain  for  us  to  resist  at  all.  I 
will  refer  it  to  the  impartial  judgment  of  all  who 
have  read  this  treatise,  whether  the  just  and 
proper  inference  from  his  reasoning  is  not  that 
we  ought  immediately  to  send  an  embassy  with 
ropes  about  our  necks,  to  make  a  full  and 
humble  surrender  of  ourselves  and  all  our  prop- 
erty to  the  disposal  of  the  parent  state.  This 
they  have  formally  and  explicitly  demanded  of 
us,  and  this  with  equal  clearness  we  have  de- 
termined we  will  never  do.  The  question  then 
is  this:  Shall  we  make  resistance  with  the 
greatest  force,  as  rebel  subjects  of  a  govern- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     207 

ment  which  we  acknowledge,  or  as  independ- 
ent states  against  an  usurped  power  which  we 
detest  and  abhor?"  This  is  Witherspoon's 
first  public  declaration  in  favour  of  independ- 
ence. 

On  the  iyth  of  May,  in  conformity  with  the 
suggestion  of  Congress  already  mentioned, 
he  preached  a  sermon  on  "The  Dominion  of 
Providence  over  the  Passions  of  Men."  He 
began  by  saying,  "  There  is  not  a  greater 
evidence  either  of  the  reality  or  power  of 
religion  than  a  firm  belief  in  God's  universal 
presence.  The  ambition  of  mistaken  princes, 
the  cunning  and  cruelty  of  oppressive  and 
corrupt  ministers,  and  even  the  inhumanity  of 
brutal  soldiers,  however  dreadful,  shall  finally 
promote  the  glory  of  God."  "  If  your  cause 
is  just,  if  your  principles  are  pure,  if  your  con- 
duct is  prudent  you  need  not  fear  the  multitude 
of  opposing  hosts.  If  your  cause  is  just  you 
may  look  with  confidence  to  the  Lord  and 
entreat  Him  to  plead  it  as  your  own.  You  are 
all  my  witnesses  that  this  is  the  first  time  of  my 
introducing  any  political  subject  into  the  pulpit. 
At  this  season,  however,  it  is  not  only  lawful 
but  necessary,  and  I  willingly  embrace  the 
opportunity  of  declaring  my  opinion,  without 
any  hesitation,  that  the  cause  in  which  America 


208  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

is  now  in  arms  is  the  cause  of  justice,  of  liberty 
and  of  human  nature.  So  far  as  we  have 
hitherto  proceeded  I  am  satisfied  that  the  con- 
federacy of  the  colonies  has  not  been  the  effect 
of  pride,  resentment,  or  sedition,  but  of  a  deep 
and  general  conviction  that  our  civil  and 
religious  liberties,  and  consequently,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  temporal  and  eternal  happiness 
of  us  and  of  our  posterity  depended  on  this 
issue." 

Keenly  aware  of  the  necessity  of  union  and 
executive  authority  he  said,  "If  persons  of 
every  rank  instead  of  implicitly  complying  with 
the  orders  of  those  whom  they  themselves  have 
chosen  to  direct,  will  needs  judge  every  measure 
over  again,  if  different  classes  of  men  intermix 
their  little  private  views,  if  local,  provincial 
pride  and  jealousy  arise,  you  are  doing  a 
greater  injury  to  the  common  cause  than  you 
are  aware  of."  "  He  is  the  best  friend  to 
American  liberty  who  is  most  sincere  and 
active  in  promoting  pure  and  undefiled  re- 
ligion." "  Whoever  is  an  avowed  enemy  to 
God  I  scruple  not  to  call  an  enemy  to  his 
country." 

Nothing  is  gained,  he  thinks,  by  railing  at 
the  English  "  as  so  many  barbarous  savages. 
Many  of  their  actions  have  probably  been  worse 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     209 

than  their  intentions.  I  do  not  refuse  sub- 
mission to  their  unjust  claims  because  they  are 
corrupt  or  profligate,  although  probably  many 
of  them  are  so,  but  because  they  are  men,  and 
therefore  liable  to  all  the  selfish  bias  inseparable 
from  human  nature."  "  If,  on  account  of  their 
distance  and  ignorance  of  our  situation  they 
could  not  conduct  their  quarrel  with  propriety 
for  one  year,  how  can  they  give  direction  and 
vigour  to  every  department  of  our  civil  consti- 
tutions from  age  to  age  ?  " 

The  sermon  was  published  with  a  dedication 
to  John  Hancock,  President  of  Congress,  ac- 
companied by  an  address  to  the  natives  of 
Scotland  residing  in  America.  There  was 
some  necessity  for  this.  Scotch  merchants  of 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  had  refused  to  enter  into 
the  non-importation  agreement,  and  in  South 
Carolina  Scotchmen  had  taken  up  arms  for  the 
king.  A  printer  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  issued 
the  sermon  with  embellishments  wherein  the 
famous  champion  of  ecclesiastical  rights  is  scar- 
rified  as  a  firebrand,  rebel  and  traitor. 

2.    THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 

Witherspoon  had  been  active  in  the  various 
meetings  of  his  county  almost  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  had  attended  one  provincial  assembly, 


2io  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

as  I  have  already  stated.  On  the  nth  of  June, 
1776,  he  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  New  Jersey,  at  Burling- 
ton, and  opened  the  session  with  prayer. 

The  first  question  of  urgent  importance  to 
come  before  this  session  of  the  legislature  was 
a  letter  from  the  Continental  Congress  suggest- 
ing each  colony's  quota  of  militia  to  be  fur- 
nished to  serve  until  the  following  December, 
New  Jersey's  number  being  3,300,  to  reinforce 
the  army  in  New  York,  now  threatened  by  the 
enemy.  The  British  were  coming  close  to  New 
Jersey  and  Washington  followed  the  letter  of 
Congress  by  an  earnest  recommendation  that 
New  Jersey  immediately  carry  this  resolution  into 
effect.  A  committee  to  do  this  was  promptly 
appointed  and  did  its  work  well. 

The  fear  of  tyranny  by  a  few  over  the  many, 
the  dread  of  power  falling  into  the  hands  of  a 
small  number  of  men,  prompted  some  of  these 
Jerseymen  to  move  that  two-thirds  be  a  quorum 
of  the  Provincial  Congress.  Witherspoon  com- 
bated that  idea.  It  was  difficult  to  secure  so 
large  a  quorum,  it  would  be  easy  for  a  few  dis- 
affected men  to  stay  away  and  thus  prevent  the 
transaction  of  business,  and  he  himself  believed 
that  in  such  times  it  was  best  to  dismiss  such 
fears  and  lodge  the  power  in  the  hands  of  a 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     211 

capable  few  rather  than  in  the  keeping  of  many. 
A  majority  was  declared  to  be  a  quorum  and 
business  proceeded  with  dispatch. 

The  royal  governor  of  New  Jersey  was  Will- 
iam Templeton  Franklin,  son  of  the  famous 
Benjamin  Franklin.  As  a  servant  of  the  crown 
he  endeavoured  to  fulfill  his  duties  with 
fidelity.  He  was  a  resolute  man  and  the 
deputies  found  that  he  intended  to  ignore 
them.  He  had  appointed  a  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  province  for  the 
2Oth  of  June.  The  members  of  this  Con- 
gress were  irregularly  chosen  and  Governor 
Franklin  refused  to  recognize  them.  They 
therefore  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  de- 
claring that  the  governor's  proclamation  ought 
not  to  be  obeyed,  being  "in  direct  contempt 
and  violation  of  the  resolve  of  the  Continental 
Congress "  ;  that  Franklin  was  an  enemy  to 
the  liberties  of  this  country ;  and  that  his 
salary  should  cease.  The  Congress  ordered 
the  various  treasurers  to  account  to  the  Con- 
gress for  all  moneys  in  their  hands.  Then 
Col.  Nathaniel  Heard  was  ordered  to  take  a 
copy  of  the  resolution  to  Governor  Franklin, 
and  in  order  that  the  affair  "be  conducted 
with  all  the  delicacy  and  tenderness  which  the 
nature  of  the  business  will  admit "  request  him 


212  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

to  sign  a  parole,  promising  to  remain  in  the 
province  and  to  keep  his  engagements  with 
fidelity.  Governor  Franklin  did  not  appreciate 
the  "  delicacy  and  tenderness  "  of  the  Congress 
and  not  only  refused  to  sign  the  parole  but 
ordered  Colonel  Heard  to  go  about  his  busi- 
ness. The  good  colonel  thereupon  promptly 
placed  a  guard  of  sixty  men  about  the  house 
and  sent  a  courier  post  haste  to  Burlington 
asking  for  further  instructions  from  the  Con- 
gress. He  was  ordered  to  bring  the  governor 
to  Burlington  at  once,  and  a  notice  of  their 
action  was  sent  to  the  Continental  Congress 
asking  that  body  if  it  would  not,  in  their 
opinion,  be  "  for  the  general  good  of  the  United 
Colonies  "  if  Governor  Franklin  should  be  re- 
moved to  some  other  colony  where  he  "  would 
be  capable  of  doing  less  mischief." 

When  Franklin  appeared  under  Colonel 
Heard's  guard  before  the  New  Jersey  Assembly 
he  denounced  them  hotly  as  a  rebellious  body, 
so  that  some  of  the  deputies  lost  their  tempers. 
Witherspoon  so  far  forgot  himself  on  that 
warm  June  day  as  to  taunt  Franklin  with  his 
illegitimate  birth,  a  circumstance  for  which 
the  governor  was  plainly  not  responsible. 
Witherspoon  regretted  his  hasty  and  indelicate 
language  but  never  found  himself  in  a  position 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     213 

where  he  could  apologize  to  Franklin  in  person. 
On  the  2Oth  of  June  a  letter  was  received  from 
the  Continental  Congress  recommending  the 
Jersey  men  to  examine  the  governor  and  if  they 
conclude  that  he  should  be  confined  the  Con- 
gress will  direct  the  place  of  his  confinement. 
He  was  finally  sent  to  Connecticut  to  become 
the  charge  of  Governor  Trumbull,  never  sub- 
mitting to  the  American  Government.  His 
last  days  were  spent  in  honourable  retirement 
in  England. 

On  Friday  the  2ist  of  June  the  New  Jersey 
Congress  resolved  to  form  a  government  of 
their  own,  but  the  committee  to  prepare  a 
draft  of  the  constitution  was  not  appointed  un- 
til the  24th.  In  the  meantime,  on  Saturday  the 
22d,  five  delegates  were  appointed  to  represent 
New  Jersey  in  the  Continental  Congress,  of 
whom  Witherspoon  was  one.  It  has  generally 
been  supposed,  and  has  often  been  publicly' 
said,  that  Witherspoon  had  much  to  do  with 
framing  the  constitution  of  New  Jersey.  I  find 
no  evidence  to  support  this  statement.  He 
was  not  a  member  of  the  committee,  which  was 
appointed  two  days  after  his  election  to  the 
Continental  Congress.  It  is  true  that  he  did 
not  arrive  at  Philadelphia  until  the  28th.  If 
the  committee  on  the  constitution  desired  to 


214  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

consult  him  they  might  have  had  opportunity, 
but  they  were  not  appointed  until  late  in  the 
afternoon  of  Monday  the  24th.  It  is  gratuitous 
to  suppose  that  Witherspoon  remained  at 
Burlington  long  after  his  appointment,  and 
quite  likely  that,  before  proceeding  to  Phila- 
delphia, he  went  to  Princeton,  which  would 
account  for  the  interval  of  almost  a  week  be- 
tween his  appointment  and  his  arrival  at 
Philadelphia.  That  he  was  a  slow  traveller  is 
very  evident  from  his  almost  invariable  tardi- 
ness. Even  on  the  supposition  that  he  re- 
mained at  Burlington  to  advise  the  committee 
on  the  constitution,  of  which  I  have  been  un- 
able to  find  the  slightest  evidence,  he  could 
not  at  the  very  longest,  have  spent  over  two 
days  with  them.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  with 
every  desire  to  give  Witherspoon  credit  for  all 
his  work,  he  cannot  be  said  to  have  had  any 
great  share  in  the  actual  preparation  of  the 
constitution  of  New  Jersey.  On  July  2,  1776, 
the  day  of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  he 
was  sitting  in  the  Continental  Congress  at 
Philadelphia,  taking  part  in  the  debates  upon 
the  resolution  for  independence  which  had 
been  brought  before  the  Congress  eighteen 
days  previously.  His  instructions  by  the  New 
Jersey  Congress  empowered  him  and  his 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     215 

associates  to  vote  for  independence  if  they 
should  consider  it  necessary  and  expedient, 
promising  the  support  of  the  whole  force  of  the 
colony,  but  "always  observing  that,  whatever 
plan  of  confederacy  you  enter  into,  the  regulat- 
ing the  internal  police  of  this  province  is  to  be 
reserved  to  the  colony  legislature." 

On  the  day  of  the  entrance  of  the  New 
Jersey  delegation  into  Independence  Hall,  as 
it  has  ever  since  been  called,  the  postponed 
resolution  came  up  for  consideration.  A  fur- 
ther postponement  was  suggested  so  that  the 
newly  arrived  members  might  learn  the  argu- 
ments that  had  been  made  upon  the  question. 
Witherspoon  brushed  aside  this  plea,  declaring 
that  the  subject  was  not  new,  he  needed  no 
more  time,  nor  further  instructions ;  he  was 
ready  to  vote  at  once.  It  was  decided,  how- 
ever, to  postpone  the  vote  until  Monday,  the 
ist  of  July.  On  that  day,  after  a  Sabbath 
whose  peace  had  probably  been  irksome  to 
some  of  the  eager  members,  the  men  upon 
whose  decision  rested  such  momentous  conse- 
quences, which  they  fully  appreciated,  assem- 
bled again  in  the  hall.  The  president  of  the 
Congress,  John  Hancock,  stated  the  order  of  the 
day,  and  the  secretary,  Charles  Thompson,  read 
once  more  the  resolution  for  independence. 


216  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

"  For  a  moment,"  it  is  said,  "  there  was  pro- 
found silence."  Then  John  Adams  rose  in  his 
place.  The  hush  of  that  little  assembly  was  so 
intense  as  to  be  almost  painful  to  the  over- 
strained men,  but  it  was  followed  by  a  speech, 
remembered  for  its  impetuosity  and  power, 
which  seemed  to  carry  everything  before  it,  de- 
claring that  "  independence  was  the  first  wish 
and  the  last  instruction  of  the  communities 
they  represented."  John  Dickinson,  celebrated 
as  the  author  of  "  Letters  of  a  Pennsylvania 
Farmer,"  fulfilled  his  promise  to  the  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania,  although  he  overlooked  the 
popular  feeling  expressed  in  conventions  and 
mass  meetings,  and  spoke  at  length  against  the 
resolution.  His  patriotism  and  devotion  to  the 
American  cause  were  never  questioned,  but 
when  he  said  the  country  was  not  ripe  for  it, 
Witherspoon  broke  in  upon  the  speaker  ex- 
claiming, "  Not  ripe,  sir  1  In  my  judgment  we 
are  not  only  ripe  but  rotting.  Almost  every 
colony  has  dropped  from  its  parent  stem  and 
your  own  province  needs  no  more  sunshine  to 
mature  it"  The  debate  continued.  On  Tues- 
day the  2d  of  July  the  Continental  Con- 
gress finally  voted  to  sever  the  connection  of 
the  American  colonies  from  Great  Britain.  A 
committee,  of  which  Thomas  Jefferson  was 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     217 

chairman,  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  decla- 
ration embodying  the  decision  and  the  reasons 
for  it.  This  was  brought  in  on  the  4th  to  be 
signed  by  the  delegates.  Although  the  resolu- 
tion had  already  been  adopted  there  was  some 
hesitation  about  finally  signing  it.  Then 
Witherspoon  rose.  One  writer  describing  the 
scene  calls  him  an  aged  patriarch,  a  term  hardly 
applicable  to  a  man  only  fifty-four  years  of  age, 
with  twenty  years  of  active  life  still  before  him. 
Although  his  hair  was  tinged  with  gray  and  his 
appearance  one  of  great  dignity,  he  could  hardly 
be  called  venerable.  The  only  clergyman  in 
the  Congress,  of  most  impressive  manner  and 
acknowledged  learning,  he  received  marked  at- 
tention as  he  proceeded  in  a  brief  speech  of 
great  eloquence  to  give  his  opinion.  "There 
is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men,  a  nick  of  time. 
We  perceive  it  now  before  us.  To  hesitate  is 
to  consent  to  our  own  slavery.  That  noble  in- 
strument upon  your  table,  which  insures  im- 
mortality to  its  author,  should  be  subscribed 
this  very  morning  by  every  pen  in  this  house. 
He  that  will  not  respond  to  its  accents  and 
strain  every  nerve  to  carry  into  effect  its 
provisions  is  unworthy  the  name  of  free- 
man. 
"  For  my  own  part,  of  property  I  have  some, 


2i8  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

of  reputation  more.  That  reputation  is  staked, 
that  property  is  pledged,  on  the  issue  of 
this  contest ;  and  although  these  gray  hairs 
must  soon  descend  into  the  sepulchre,  I 
would  infinitely  rather  that  they  descend 
thither  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner  than 
desert  at  this  crisis  the  sacred  cause  of  my 
country." 

The  declaration  was  signed  and  the  colonies 
finally  and  forever  committed  to  independence. 
Everywhere  the  people  received  the  news  with 
greatest  joy,  ringing  the  bells,  firing  their  guns, 
and  building  bonfires.  The  tension  was  past 
and  great  relief  was  felt. 

3.    WORK  IN  CONGRESS 

The  Congress  settled  down  resolutely  to  the 
serious  business  of  providing  for  the  army, 
making  strong  alliances  with  foreign  nations, 
and  securing  recognition  from  them.  Ten  days 
after  the  declaration  was  signed  Lord  Howe, 
whose  brother  was  in  command  of  the  British 
forces  in  America,  landed  at  Staten  Island  where 
General  Howe  was  awaiting  his  arrival  before 
beginning  the  attack  upon  New  York.  It  was 
announced  that  Lord  Howe  had  come  as  the 
bearer  of  an  olive  branch.  The  anxious  Con- 
gress and  people  feared  lest  some  of  the  timorous 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     219 

or  time-serving  Americans  might  be  induced  to 
withdraw  their  support  of  independence.  Every 
state  had  its  British  faction,  and  New  Jersey  had 
been  made  aware  of  the  presence  of  many  tories 
by  petitions  from  various  townships,  urging  the 
Provincial  Congress  not  to  break  loose  from 
Great  Britain.  That  was  before  the  fatal  fourth 
of  July.  Even  later,  however,  there  were  not 
wanting  men  who  clung  to  the  hope  that  Lord 
Howe  might  propose  terms  which  the  Ameri- 
cans could  accept.  Before  beginning  active 
military  operations,  he  sent  a  message  to  Wash- 
ington addressing  him  as  a  private  gentleman. 
Washington  refused  to  receive  it ;  and  after  re- 
peated attempts  to  persuade  him  to  confer,  Lord 
Howe  finally  made  an  attack  upon  the  American 
army  on  Long  Island.  The  story  of  Washing- 
ton's defeat,  his  masterly  retreat  and  escape 
without  losing  a  man  or  a  gun,  on  the  night  of 
the  2Qth  of  August,  is  already  familiar  to  every 
American  schoolboy.  Among  those  who  had 
been  captured  in  the  battle  was  General  Sullivan, 
a  brave  and  capable  officer.  Lord  Howe  thought 
that  a  message  to  Congress,  borne  by  General 
Sullivan,  might  receive  some  attention.  Gen- 
eral Sullivan,  therefore,  having  given  his  parole, 
appeared  before  the  Congress,  with  the  promise 
that  Lord  Howe  would  use  his  influence  with 


220  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

the  Parliament  to  have  the  obnoxious  measures 
repealed,  but  that  he  would  like  to  confer  with 
some  of  the  members  of  the  Congress  as  private 
gentlemen.  Poor  Sullivan  was  roundly  rated 
by  John  Adams  for  consenting  to  bear  such  a 
message.  The  proposal  was  debated  hotly  by 
the  Congress.  Some  were  in  favour  of  granting 
the  desired  interview.  None  of  them  would 
listen  to  any  basis  but  the  recognition  of  inde- 
pendence. Witherspoon  spoke  strongly  against 
the  proposal.  He  felt  that  nothing  would  be 
gained  by  it.  "  It  is  plain,"  he  said,  "  that  ab- 
solute, unconditional  submission  is  what  they 
require  us  to  agree  to,  or  mean  to  force  us  to. 
The  king  has  not  laid  aside  his  personal  ran- 
cour ;  it  is  rather  increasing  every  day."  "  It 
has  been  admitted  that  there  is  not  the  least 
reason  to  expect  that  any  correspondence  we 
can  have  with  him  will  tend  to  peace."  "  Lord 
Howe  speaks  of  a  decisive  blow  not  being  yet 
struck ;  as  if  this  cause  depended  upon  one  bat- 
tle !  Neither  loss  nor  disgrace  worth  mention- 
ing has  befallen  us.  In  short,  sir,  from  anything 
that  has  happened  I  see  not  the  least  reason  for 
our  attending  to  this  delusive  message.  On  the 
contrary,  I  think  it  is  the  very  worst  time  that 
could  be  chosen  for  us,  as  it  will  be  looked  upon 
as  the  effect  of  fear,  and  diffuse  the  same  spirit, 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     221 

in  some  degree,  through  different  ranks  of  men. 
The  tories,  our  secret  enemies,  I  readily  admit, 
are  earnest  for  our  treating.  They  are  exulting 
in  the  prospect  of  it;  they  are  spreading  in- 
numerable lies  to  forward  it.  It  has  brought 
them  from  their  lurking  holes  ;  they  are  taking 
liberty  to  say  things  in  consequence  of  it  which 
they  durst  not  have  said  before.  In  one  word, 
if  we  set  this  negotiation  on  foot,  it  will  give 
new  force  and  vigour  to  all  their  seditious  mach- 
inations. In  cases  where  the  expediency  of  a 
measure  is  doubtful,  if  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
knowing  what  my  enemies  wished  me  to  do,  I 
would  not  be  easily  induced  to  follow  their  ad- 
vice. 

"  As  to  the  Whigs  and  friends  of  independ- 
ence, I  am  well  persuaded  that  multitudes  of 
them  are  already  clear  in  their  minds,  that  the 
conference  should  be  utterly  rejected ;  and  to 
those  who  are  in  doubt  about  its  nature,  nothing 
more  will  be  requisite  than  a  full  and  clear  in- 
formation of  the  state  of  the  case  which  I  hope 
will  be  granted  them. 

"  As  to  the  army  I  cannot  help  being  of  opin- 
ion, that  nothing  will  more  effectually  deaden 
the  operations  of  war  than  what  is  proposed. 
We  do  not  ourselves  expect  any  benefit  from  it, 
but  they  will.  And  they  will  possibly  impute 


222  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

our  conduct  to  fear  and  jealousy  as  to  the  issue 
of  the  cause ;  which  will  add  to  their  present 
little  discouragement,  and  produce  a  timorous 
and  despondent  spirit." 

It  was  decided,  however,  against  the  opinion 
of  Witherspoon  and  others,  to  send  a  commit- 
tee to  confer  with  Lord  Howe.  Franklin,  Rut- 
ledge  and  doughty  John  Adams  accordingly  re- 
paired to  Staten  Island,  where  they  were  most 
courteously  treated  by  Lord  Howe.  But  as 
they  demanded  recognition  of  independence  as 
a  preliminary,  before  entering  upon  any  nego- 
tiations for  peace,  the  conference  came  to 
nothing. 

Shortly  after  this  the  British  took  possession 
of  New  York,  and,  in  a  series  of  operations  in 
which  Washington  displayed  his  great  military 
genius,  despite  the  necessity  of  retiring  in  the 
face  of  a  superior  force,  Lord  Howe  compelled 
the  Americans  to  begin  their  retreat  across  the 
Jerseys.  The  interference  of  Congress  in  order- 
ing General  Greene  to  hold  Fort  Washington 
at  all  hazards  lost  that  fort  and  its  reinforced 
garrison,  a  disaster  which,  added  to  General 
Lee's  treachery,  almost  brought  complete  ruin 
to  the  American  cause.  It  should  have  taught 
the  members  of  Congress  what  Witherspoon 
always  earnestly  advocated,  that  the  com- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     223 

mander-in-chief  should  never  suffer  interference 
in  military  operations  by  the  civilians  of  the 
Congress,  whose  duty  was  not  only  to  confide 
in  his  wisdom,  but  to  respond  to  his  demands 
for  supplies  as  fully  and  speedily  as  possible, 
and  give  him  a  free  hand  in  his  direction  of  the 
campaign.  It  was  long,  however,  before  Con- 
gress learned  the  wisdom  of  letting  Washington 
alone. 

In  those  trying  days  personal  anxieties  beset 
Witherspoon.  His  two  elder  sons  were  in  the 
army.  James  Witherspoon  was  with  the  north- 
ern army,  which  had  retreated  to  Ticonderoga. 
He  wrote  to  his  father  that  he  and  a  companion 
had  gone  through  the  forest  to  St.  John's  on  a 
scouting  expedition.  The  place  they  found  in 
possession  of  the  enemy  and  they  were  in  great 
danger  of  being  captured.  Finding  hiding- 
places  in  the  woods,  however,  they  succeeded 
in  eluding  their  pursuers  ;  but,  having  lost  their 
way,  they  nearly  starved,  having  but  one  biscuit 
apiece  for  three  days.  Witherspoon,  however, 
devoted  himself  assiduously  to  the  work  assigned 
him,  serving,  it  is  said,  on  more  committees  than 
any  other  man  in  Congress. 

While  Washington  was  engaged  in  oper- 
ations about  New  York,  the  Congress  set  about 
doing  what  it  could  to  supply  the  army.  Team- 


224  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

sters  charged  extortionate  prices.  Wagons  and 
horses  were  scarce.  The  army  was  in  great 
need.  The  situation  became  so  serious  that 
Witherspoon  and  two  others  were  appointed  a 
committee,  early  in  October  of  1776,  to  con- 
sider a  plan  for  providing  for  this  part  of  the 
public  service  so  that  "the  demands  of  the 
army  might  be  speedily  met  and  all  oppression 
by  private  persons  effectually  prevented."  Eight 
days  later  he  was  added  to  the  committee  on 
clothing,  whose  business  it  was  to  provide  the 
soldiers  with  clothing  and  blankets.  It  is 
impossible  now  to  trace  the  work  of  these  com- 
mittees. The  stories  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Continental  army  due  to  scarcity  of  food  and 
lack  of  clothing  prove  that  the  committee  was 
not  able  to  meet  all  the  demands.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  such  information  as  can  now  be 
obtained  gives  evidence  of  Witherspoon's  inde- 
fatigable efforts  to  obtain  the  needed  supplies,  and 
his  appointment  on  these  committees  is  a  tribute 
to  his  practical  ability  in  fields  where  theologians 
are  not  supposed  to  be  competent.  His  was  a 
many-sided  nature.  Washington  thanked  him 
both  by  letter  and  in  person  on  several  occasions 
for  his  efficient  services  to  the  army.  In  a 
country  as  thickly  settled  as  the  North  during 
the  civil  war  in  the  sixties  of  the  nineteenth 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     225 

century,  under  a  government  whose  organi- 
zation may  fairly  be  supposed  to  have  gained 
some  ability,  and  with  facilities  for  transporta- 
tion vastly  superior  to  that  existing  at  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  the  armies  of  the  North  were 
often  poorly  supplied.  It  is  greatly  to  the  credit 
of  the  Scotch  cleigyman  that  he  so  far  succeeded 
in  his  efforts  as  to  receive  the  thanks  of  Wash- 
ington. 

One  of  the  most  important  committees  of 
Congress  was  that  known  as  the  Board  of  War. 
A  section  of  this  board  was  known  as  the  secret 
committee  of  correspondence,  to  which  were  en- 
trusted the  communications  with  foreign  powers, 
whose  assistance  against  England  might  be  se- 
cured, although  they  were  at  peace  with  that 
country.  France  was  the  traditional  enemy  of 
Great  Britain,  and  her  foreign  minister,  Ver- 
gennes,  had  sent  to  America  large  sums  of 
money  for  the  purchase  of  arms.  The  Con- 
gress had  appointed  Silas  Deane  its  European 
agent,  and  in  October,  1776,  he  was  joined  by 
Arthur  Lee,  who  had  been  for  many  years  the 
English  agent  of  Virginia.  At  the  same  time 
Franklin  was  sent  to  Paris,  and  his  place  on  the 
secret  committee  was  taken  by  Witherspoon, 
who  remained  a  member  of  it  as  long  as  there 
was  any  need  of  secrecy  in  the  relations  between 


226  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

France  and  America.  France  was  at  peace  with 
England,  but  was  ready  to  assist  her  foes  in  every 
possible  way.  The  delicacy  of  the  position  of 
the  secret  committee  is  apparent.  Direct  cor- 
respondence with  France  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  this  was  carried  on  through  the  agents 
and  commissioners  of  Congress.  The  secret 
committee  urged  upon  Franklin  to  secure  from 
the  French  government  the  right  for  men-of-war 
and  privateers  to  carry  their  prizes  into  French 
ports  and  there  dispose  of  them.  It  was  against 
all  principles  of  neutrality  to  permit  this  and 
might  bring  France  into  war  with  England,  as 
indeed  it  did  at  last  Letters  between  the  Con- 
gress and  the  foreign  governments  went  by 
various  routes,  sometimes  direct  to  France  in  an 
American  man-of-war ;  sometimes  by  way  of 
St.  Eustatius  or  Martinique,  in  the  French  West 
Indies,  either  on  neutral  trading  vessels  or 
privateers.  In  order  that  these  letters  might 
not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  British  they  were 
addressed  to  merchants  or  other  private  citi- 
zens. Military  supplies  from  France  were 
shipped  to  similar  destinations  and  afterwards 
transhipped  to  America  in  merchant  vessels 
or  men-of-war,  which  would  land  at  such 
American  ports  as  were  not  blockaded  by 
British  ships.  Flints,  powder,  blankets,  arms, 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     227 

saltpetre  and  other  cargoes  were  landed  at 
ports  all  along  the  coast  from  Maine  to  Florida 
and  from  them  carried  overland.  To  meet  the 
great  expense  of  these  voyages  and  cargoes, 
consignments  of  American  goods  were  often 
carried  to  be  sold  in  foreign  lands.  These 
were,  of  course,  liable  to  capture.  The  secret 
committee  were  compelled  to  trust  the  details 
to  their  agents  both  at  home  and  abroad,  send- 
ing men  to  receive  the  cargoes  on  arrival  in 
America  and  notifying  their  correspondents  of 
shipments.  Tobacco,  rice,  indigo,  wheat  and 
flour  were  in  great  demand  in  France  and 
brought  good  profits. 

Letters  were  often  lost  Silas  Deane,  the 
agent  in  Paris,  complains  of  the  committee's 
failure  to  write.  Carmichael,  in  Amsterdam, 
cheered  the  Congress  by  the  information  that 
the  Dutch  stoutly  informed  England  that  their 
ports  were  open  to  the  commerce  of  all  nations 
on  equal  terms.  America  might  secure  a  loan, 
he  wrote,  if  such  success  should  attend  her 
military  operations  as  to  make  it  evident  that 
independence  might  likely  be  secured,  or  if 
either  France  or  Spain  should  acknowledge 
America's  independence.  A  Swiss  banker, 
Grand,  assured  him  that  his  banking  house 
would  accept  American  notes  at  a  fair  discount 


228  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

Information  about  America  was  much  sought 
after,  its  geography,  rivers,  mountains,  wild 
game,  agriculture,  industries,  seaports.  This 
information  must  be  supplied  if  possible.  The 
agents,  especially  Silas  Deane,  were  relied  on 
for  credentials  of  French  and  other  foreign 
officers  coming  to  seek  service  in  the  American 
armies.  For  some  reason,  the  committee  were 
unable  to  get  their  letters  through  to  their 
distressed  and  embarrassed  agent  at  Paris. 
And  the  greatest  credit  is  due  to  him  for  his 
untiring  and  successful  efforts  in  the  service  of 
his  country.  Without  frequent  instructions, 
sometimes  not  hearing  from  the  committee  for 
months,  he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  judg- 
ment. In  1777,  having  made  offers  to  French 
officers  unauthorized  by  Congress  he  was  re- 
called. One  of  these  officers  was  de  Kalb,  who 
afterwards  rendered  such  valuable  aid  to 
Washington,  and  another  more  famous,  was 
Lafayette. 

Witherspoon  could  not  give  all  his  time  in 
Congress  to  the  work  of  the  secret  committee. 
On  the  22d  of  November  he  was  one  of  three 
sent  to  confer  with  Washington  upon  the 
military  situation.  The  commander-in-chief 
had  asked  for  authority  to  appoint  officers 
without  the  formal  approval  of  Congress.  The 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     229 

civilians,  fearful  of  a  military  tyranny,  even 
from  one  so  unambitious  of  power  as  Washing- 
ton, jealously  guarded  their  control  of  the 
army.  Witherspoon  did  not  share  this  dread. 
He  felt  that  a  commander  in  the  field  must  be 
free,  as  far  as  possible  untrammelled  by  a 
civilian  body  like  Congress,  whose  main  duty 
was  to  supply  the  necessary  means  of  support. 
He  so  far  prevailed  upon  his  associates  that  they 
sent  with  the  committee  blank  commissions  for 
the  general  to  fill  out  at  his  discretion  with  the 
names  of  those  whom  he  desired  to  take  the 
places  of  the  officers  whose  terms  had  expired. 
Witherspoon  fulfilled  the  duty  and  returned  to 
Philadelphia  just  in  time  to  join  the  Congress  in 
their  flight  to  Baltimore  to  escape  the  British. 
Washington,  however,  saved  Philadelphia  for 
the  time  by  his  clever  stroke  at  Trenton,  his 
victory  at  Princeton  and  escape  to  the  heights 
about  Morristown. 

The  first  letter,  now  extant,  sent  by  the 
secret  committee  to  Franklin,  Deane  and  Lee 
after  October,  1776,  was  written  December  2ist, 
from  Baltimore.  It  gave  a  hopeful  account  of 
the  war  and  thanked  the  commissioners  for 
their  labours.  If  a  loan  can  be  procured,  it 
should  be  done  in  order  to  keep  up  the  credit 
of  the  paper  currency.  Two  million  pounds 


230  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

sterling  at  six  per  cent,  is  the  amount  Congress 
authorizes  Deane  to  secure.  On  the  same  date 
Robert  Morris  wrote  from  Philadelphia  giving 
a  gloomy  account  of  the  war,  the  fear  of  the 
people,  the  boldness  of  the  tories  and  the  in- 
formation that  Philadelphia  is  well-nigh  de- 
populated of  all  but  the  Quakers. 

For  the  next  few  months  Witherspoon  did  no 
work  on  the  secret  committee.  In  December 
he  went  to  Princeton  to  look  after  his  private 
affairs.  In  the  middle  of  the  night  of  the  6th 
he  was  roused  by  news  of  the  approach  of  the 
British.  Hastily  summoning  his  family  and 
servants,  they  all  escaped  under  cover  of  the 
darkness  saving  only  so  much  of  their  valuables 
"  as  could  be  carried  on  one  team."  His  house 
was  left  in  charge  of  Mr.  Montgomery,  a  tutor 
in  the  college.  Although  the  British  ransacked 
the  house  and  carried  off  all  the  cattle  from  the 
place,  his  books  were  preserved  and  little 
damage  done  to  the  furniture.  That  his  life 
was  in  danger  is  quite  evident  from  the  treat- 
ment of  another  clergyman,  whom  the  British 
mistook  for  Witherspoon.  Coming  upon  Rev. 
Mr.  Rosborough  near  Washington's  crossing 
they  "  pierced  him  through  and  through  with 
their  bayonets  and  mangled  him  in  the  most 
shocking  manner,"  although  he  had  denied  the 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     231 

identity  and  "  fell  upon  his  knees  and  begged 
for  his  life."  So  Witherspoon  wrote  to  his  son. 
"  Some  of  the  people  of  Princeton,"  he  added, 
"say  they  thought  they  were  killing  me  and 
boasted  that  they  had  done  it  when  they  came 
back." 

The  intense  feeling  of  hatred  and  enmity 
with  which  the  British  regarded  Witherspoon 
is  shown  in  an  account  of  an  incident  said  to 
have  occurred  in  July,  1776.  The  story  is  told 
by  Dr.  McLean  in  his  history  of  the  college, 
and  is  quoted  from  Frank  Moore's  "Diary." 
"Just  before  the  thunder-storm  last  week  the 
troops  on  Staten  Island  were  preparing  figures 
of  Generals  Washington,  Lee  and  Putnam,  and 
Dr.  Witherspoon,  for  burning  in  the  night. 
The  figures  had  all  been  erected  on  a  pile  of 
fagots,  the  generals  facing  the  doctor  and  he 
represented  as  reading  to  them  an  address.  All 
of  them,  excepting  General  Washington,  had 
been  tarred  and  prepared  for  the  feathers  when 
the  storm  came  on  and  obliged  the  troops  to 
find  shelter.  In  the  evening,  when  the  storm 
was  over,  a  large  body  of  the  troops  gathered 
around  the  figures  which,  being  prepared,  were 
set  on  fire  amid  the  most  terrible  imprecations 
against  the  rebels.  One  of  the  party  seeing 
that  Generals  Putnam  and  Lee  and  Dr.  Wither- 


232  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

spoon  burned  furiously  and  were  almost  con- 
sumed, while  General  Washington  was  still 
standing  with  the  tar  burning  off,  ran  away 
frightened  and  was  soon  followed  by  most  of 
his  companions.  Next  morning  the  figure  was 
found  as  good  as  it  ever  was,  a  fact  which 
caused  a  good  deal  of  fear  among  the  Hessian 
troops,  most  of  whom  were  superstitious,  and 
it  was  not  until  some  of  the  officers  told  them 
the  cause  of  its  not  burning  that  they  appeared 
contented.  The  reason  was  that  having  no  tar 
on  it  before  the  rain  commenced,  it  became 
saturated  with  water  and  the  tar  only  would 
burn." 

While  the  Congress  sat  at  Baltimore  Wither- 
spoon  visited  the  military  prison  in  that  city. 
He  found  it  in  a  wretched  condition,  unfit  for 
even  the  worst  enemies  of  the  country.  He 
urged  Congress  to  remedy  the  abuse  and  was 
placed  upon  a  committee  to  do  so.  With  what 
success  he  laboured  we  cannot  learn.  What 
a  Tory  satirist  thought  of  the  action  and  of 
Witherspoon  in  particular,  is  shown  in  the  fol- 
lowing lines  by  Jonathan  Odell : 

"  Known  in  the  pulpit  by  seditious  toils, 
Grown  into  consequence  by  civil  broils, 
Three  times  he  tried,  and  miserably  failed 
To  overset  the  laws — the  fourth  prevailed. 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     233 

Whether  as  tool  he  acted  or  as  guide, 

Is  yet  a  doubt — his  conscience  must  decide. 

Meanwhile,  unhappy  Jersey  mourns  her  thrall, 

Ordained  by  vilest  of  the  vile  to  fall ; 

To  fall  by  Witherspoon  ! — O  name,  the  curse 

Of  sound  religion  and  disgrace  of  verse. 

Member  of  Congress  we  must  hail  him  next 

« Come  out  of  Babylon  '  is  now  his  text. 

Fierce  as  the  fiercest,  foremost  of  the  first, 

He'd  rail  at  kings,  with  venom  well  nigh  burst  j 

Not  uniformly  grand — for  some  bye-end, 

To  dirtiest  acts  of  treason  he'd  descend  ; 

I've  known  him  seek  the  dungeon  dark  as  night, 

Imprisoned  Tories  to  convert  or  fright ; 

Whilst  to  myself  I've  hummed  in  dismal  tune, 

I'd  rather  be  a  dog  than  Witherspoon. 

Be  patient,  reader — for  the  issue  trust ; 

His  day  will  come — remember,  heaven  is  just !" 

Such  diatribes  were  characteristic  of  Revo- 
lutionary literature.  We  shall  see  Witherspoon 
himself  dipping  his  pen  in  bitter  vituperation. 
For  the  present  he  continued  at  his  work  in 
Congress.  His  committee  for  regulating  the 
impressing  of  wagons  into  the  public  service 
worked  as  faithfully  as  they  could  but  made  no 
report.  On  the  igth  of  January,  1777,  his 
claim  of  $105.78  for  wood  taken  by  the  troops 
during  their  wintry  visit  a  month  before  was 
ordered  paid.  Shortly  after  this  he  went  to 
Princeton  and  from  there  to  Pequea  to  bring 


234  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

home  his  wife  and  daughter,  writing  from  there . 
to  his  son  David,  that  they  were  all  well.  By 
the  1 2th  of  February  he  was  again  at  Baltimore, 
but  left  for  Princeton  twelve  days  later.  March 
1 9th  finds  him  in  Congress  again  upon  a  com- 
mittee to  examine  charges  made  by  Silas  Deane 
against  Dr.  Williamson,  an  American  citizen, 
whom  Deane  accused  of  treachery.  The  com- 
mittee carefully  sifted  the  charges  without  dis- 
covering any  taint  of  treason. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1777  Congress  was 
again  in  Philadelphia,  but  through  the  summer 
Witherspoon  was  seldom  present.  September 
found  him  present  in  time  to  join  the  others  in 
that  rapid,  panicky  ride  to  Easton,  Pennsyl- 
vania, when  Witherspoon' s  horse  rode  at  an  un- 
accustomed gallop,  his  rider  being  assured  that 
a  squadron  of  British  cavalry  were  close  behind. 
Nor  was  Easton  comfortable,  the  British  follow- 
ing them  there,  and  even  towards  Lancaster, 
through  which  city  they  passed  to  their  long 
wintry  session  at  York. 

In  Congress  he  continued  his  unremitting 
service  on  various  committees.  One  of  these 
conferred  with  General  Gates  as  to  charges 
made  by  that  officer  against  General  Schuyler 
whose  command  of  the  Northern  Army  Gates 
coveted.  The  committee  discovered  the  mo- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     235 

tives  of  Gates  and  exonerated  Schuyler,  which 
so  angered  the  former  that  he  forgot  himself,  or 
rather  betrayed  his  real  self,  refused  to  serve  in 
a  subordinate  capacity,  wrote  his  infamous  let- 
ter to  Washington,  and  behaved  so  outra- 
geously before  the  committee  that  he  was  turned 
out  of  the  room.  Witherspoon  never  had 
any  sympathy  with  Gates,  nor  with  that 
meddling  opposition  to  Washington  which  was 
for  a  time  kept  alive  by  the  Adamses  and  Lees. 
Later,  also,  in  1779,  he  was  one  of  those  who 
voted  to  retain  Schuyler  in  the  service,  one  of 
the  finest  generals  and  noblest  gentlemen  in 
America.  The  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender 
reached  the  Congress  at  York  before  the  arrival 
of  the  courier  whom  Gates  had  sent  with  his 
report.  When  the  tardy  trooper  finally  arrived 
some  one  suggested  that  Congress  should  pre- 
sent him  with  a  sword.  Witherspoon  inter- 
posed, saying  in  his  Scotch  brogue,  "  I  think 
ye'll  better  gie  the  lad  a  pair  o'  spurs."  Never- 
theless he  joined  the  others  in  bestowing  the 
sword  and  in  voting  to  Gates  a  medal  and  the 
thanks  of  Congress. 

While  Washington  was  at  Valley  Forge 
keeping  a  close  watch  on  Howe,  shut  up  in 
Philadelphia,  Witherspoon,  with  a  committee 
of  Congress  visited  the  army  by  order  of  Con- 


236  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

gress  "  to  consult  with  the  general  as  to  the 
best  plans  for  preserving  the  health  and  disci- 
pline of  the  troops."  As  a  result  of  that  visit 
Congress  could  do  little.  How  far  they  fully 
appreciated  the  situation  is  shown  in  a  letter 
written  to  the  commissioners  abroad  in  January, 
1778.  "  General  Washington's  army  is  in  huts 
to  the  westward  of  the  Schuylkill,  refreshing 
and  recruiting  during  the  winter."  Wither- 
spoon  was  nevertheless  indefatigable  in  his  all 
too  fruitless  efforts  to  relieve  the  situation  at 
Valley  Forge.  Congress  was  helpless  in  the 
face  of  conditions  which  made  it  well-nigh  im- 
possible to  furnish  supplies  from  a  sparsely 
settled  country  where  there  were  few  roads,  the 
better  part  of  the  population  unable  even  in 
times  of  peace  to  produce  a  large  surplus  of 
grain  and  cattle. 

Letters  from  the  commissioners  covering  their 
labours  at  foreign  courts  continued  to  pour  in 
upon  Congress.  These  naturally  fell  to  the 
committee  on  foreign  affairs.  No  more  inter- 
esting correspondence  can  be  found  relating  to 
the  Revolution.  But  its  mass  of  details  would 
only  burden  a  work  like  this.  The  committee 
of  foreign  affairs  was  not  well  organized.  Ir- 
regularity of  attendance  left  many  letters  unan- 
swered, to  the  excusable  exasperation  of  the 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     237 

commissioners.  But  those  gentlemen  were  not 
left  in  doubt  as  to  the  needs  of  America.  They 
were  urged  to  use  all  their  ability  to  secure 
money.  Until  1781,  when  Robert  Morris  be- 
came Superintendent  of  Finance,  there  was 
practically  no  other  financial  policy  than  to  make 
requisitions  on  the  states  which  were  never  hon- 
oured in  full,  sometimes  for  money,  sometimes 
for  supplies.  Not  infrequently  during  the  entire 
conduct  of  the  war,  a  state  government  paid  the 
quota  of  money  demanded  by  Congress  in  mili- 
tary supplies  at  its  own  estimate.  Paper  cur- 
rency was  issued  again  and  again  before  Morris 
took  charge.  Witherspoon  and  Lovell  for  the 
committee  of  foreign  affairs  wrote  to  Izard,  the 
commissioner  to  Italy,  "  Our  apprehensions  of 
danger  to  our  liberties  are  reduced  to  the  one 
circumstance  of  the  depreciation  of  our  currency 
from  the  quantity  which  we  have  been  obliged 
to  issue."  Izard  is  ordered  to  use  every  exer- 
tion to  secure  a  foreign  loan. 

Another  item  of  small  importance  entrusted 
to  the  committee  was  to  direct  the  commission- 
ers at  Paris  "  to  apply  to  the  court  of  France 
for  an  extension  of  the  leave  of  absence  to  such 
French  officers  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  such  state."  But  the  disorganized 
condition  of  the  committee  continued  until  at 


238  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

last  it  became  necessary  to  place  the  foreign 
affairs  in  the  hands  of  a  secretary,  Robert  R. 
Livingston  being  chosen  to  that  office  in  Sep- 
tember, 1781. 

For  good  or  for  ill  the  thirteen  colonies  were 
united  in  a  war  for  independence,  but  this  union 
was  not  regarded  by  any  of  them  as  permanent. 
Each  clung  more  or  less  tenaciously  to  its  inde- 
pendence of  the  others.  The  evils  of  this  senti- 
ment weakened  the  discipline  of  the  army, 
hampered  the  operations  of  finance  and  dis- 
tracted the  diplomacy  of  the  Congress.  With- 
out a  centralized  authority  there  could  be  no 
efficient  service  in  any  department.  But  the 
best  that  could  be  done  was  to  adopt  the  Arti- 
cles of  Confederation  which  bound  the  colonies 
loosely  together  during  the  war,  but  was  not 
sufficient  to  unite  them  after  peace  was  won. 
The  question  came  before  Congress  in  the  fall 
of  1777.  Witherspoon  was  heartily  in  favour 
of  a  strong  and  permanent  confederation  which 
was  opposed  by  several  of  the  colonies,  notably 
South  Carolina,  New  York,  and  Massachusetts, 
under  Samuel  Adams.  These  states  clung  to 
their  independence.  As  early  as  July  3Oth,  With- 
erspoon had  said  to  John  Adams  that  there  must 
be  a  confederation  if  the  object  of  the  war  was 
to  be  attained.  From  the  outset  he  advocated 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     239 

a  strong  executive,  and  deprecated  the  loose 
methods  which  dissipated  the  energy  of  the 
government.  All  of  the  delegates  felt  the  need 
of  union  for  the  purposes  of  the  war.  Wither- 
spoon  plead  for  a  permanent  union.  Warmly 
contending  for  the  preservation  of  the  separate 
states,  he  plead  equally  for  their  close  and  abid- 
ing union.  When  the  various  articles  came  to 
be  voted  on  he  agreed  that  each  state  should 
have  one  vote,  not  as  some  of  the  larger  states 
would  have  liked,  that  the  voting  power  of  each 
state  should  be  proportionate  to  its  population  or 
extent  When  it  came  to  determining  "  the  quota 
to  be  paid  for  the  common  welfare  and  defense," 
he  supported  the  proposition  that  the  quota 
should  be  proportionately  to  the  value  of  the 
land.  With  equal  consistency  he  opposed  the 
measure  which  was  adopted  fixing  the  number 
of  delegates  to  represent  each  state  at  not  less 
than  two  nor  more  than  seven.  In  his  opinion, 
since  each  state  could  have  but  one  vote,  each 
state  should  determine  for  itself  how  many  dele- 
gates to  send  to  Congress.  He  maintained  that 
enough  would  be  sent  to  protect  the  interests  of 
the  state,  and  no  more  than  it  deemed  necessary 
or  cared  to  pay  for. 

But  these  Articles  of  Confederation  were  too 
loose,  even  during  the  war.     In  1780  Washing- 


240  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

ton  wrote  that  there  must  be  a  closer  union. 
"  We  can  no  longer  drudge  along  in  the  old 
way."  Of  the  evils  of  the  system  as  felt  in  the 
army  he  said,  "  There  can  be  no  radical  cure  till 
Congress  be  vested  by  the  several  states  with 
full  and  ample  powers  to  enact  laws  for  general 
purposes.  In  February,  1781,  Witherspoon 
proposed  that  Congress  assume  the  power  to 
regulate  commerce  and  lay  duties  on  imports. 
The  proposal  was  negatived,  but  Congress 
finally  agreed  that  the  several  states  be  re- 
quested to  vest  Congress  with  power  to  levy  a 
duty  of  five  per  cent,  on  articles  of  foreign 
growth  and  manufacture.  This  was  the  first 
tariff  legislation  of  the  American  Congress,  al- 
though it  never  was  fully  enforced.  It  was  not 
until  March,  1781,  that  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion were  ratified  by  the  last  of  the  states,  Mary- 
land, whose  neighbour,  Virginia,  had  been  one 
of  the  steadiest  supporters  of  a  strong  union, 
under  the  lead  of  Madison,  who  had  been  a 
pupil  of  Witherspoon  at  Princeton. 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  a  speech  by 
Witherspoon  on  this  subject.  Among  other 
things  he  said,  "  The  absolute  necessity  of 
union,  to  the  vigour  and  success  of  those 
measures  on  which  we  are  already  entered,  is 
felt  and  confessed  by  every  one  of  us,  without 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     241 

exception ;  so  far,  indeed,  that  those  who  have 
expressed  their  fears  or  suspicions  of  the  exist- 
ing confederacy  proving  abortive  have  yet 
agreed  in  saying  that  there  must  and  shall  be 
a  confederacy  for  the  purposes  of,  and  till  the 
finishing  of  this  war.  So  far  is  well ;  and  so  far 
it  is  pleasing  to  hear  them  express  their  senti- 
ments. But  I  entreat  gentlemen  to  consider 
how  far  the  giving  up  all  hopes  of  a  lasting 
confederacy  among  these  states,  for  their  future 
security  and  improvement,  will  have  an  effect 
upon  the  stability  and  efficacy  of  even  the 
temporary  confederacy  which  all  acknowledged 
to  be  necessary?  I  am  fully  persuaded  that 
when  it  ceases  to  be  generally  known,  that  the 
delegates  of  the  provinces  consider  a  lasting 
union  impracticable,  it  will  greatly  derange  the 
minds  of  the  people  and  weaken  their  hands  in 
defense  of  their  country." 

He  was  urgent  for  an  immediate  confederacy 
early  in  the  war.  "  Every  day's  delay,  though 
it  adds  to  the  necessity,  augments  the  difficulty 
and  takes  from  the  inclination."  He  looked  to 
the  future,  saying,  "  It  is  not  impossible  that  in 
future  times  all  the  states  in  one  quarter  of  the 
globe  may  see  it  proper  by  some  plan  of 
union,  to  perpetuate  security  and  peace :  and 
sure  I  am,  a  well-planned  confederacy  among 


242  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

the  states  of  America  may  hand  down  the  bless- 
ings of  peace  and  public  order  to  many  gener- 
ations." "  Every  argument  from  honour,  in- 
terest, safety  and  necessity  conspire  in  pressing 
us  to  a  confederacy." 

In  1777  the  committee  of  Foreign  Affairs 
needed  a  secretary.  Because  of  his  advocacy 
of  independence  some  one  suggested  Thomas 
Paine.  Witherspoon  opposed  Paine,  not  on 
account  of  his  infidel  opinions,  for  Wither- 
spoon had  commended  some  of  Paine' s 
writings,  notably,  "Common  Sense,"  but  be- 
cause of  his  distrust  of  Paine's  character  saying 
to  John  Adams  that  he  was  a  drunkard  and  un- 
reliable. Paine  was  elected,  but  gave  such  poor 
satisfaction  that  he  was  requested  to  resign. 

It  was  later  than  this  that  Witherspoon  wrote 
the  piece  of  invective  to  which  I  referred.  From 
the  beginning  of  the  agitation  that  culminated 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  no  man  in 
America  had  been  more  fervent  in  his  prayers 
for  the  triumph  of  the  cause  than  Rev.  Jacob 
Duche,  pastor  of  the  united  parishes  of  Christ 
Church  and  St.  Peter's,  Philadelphia.  So  ear- 
nest was  he  that  Congress  invited  him  to  open 
that  body  with  prayer.  But  when  the  army  of 
the  colonists  suffered  those  depressing  reverses 
which  withered  the  courage  of  the  shallow-soiled 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     243 

type  to  which  Duche  belonged,  he  lost  heart. 
When,  finally,  the  British  entered  Philadelphia, 
he  opened  to  them  the  church  in  which  he  had 
prayed  and  preached  so  fervently  for  the 
Americans  and  used  his  eloquence  to  laud  the 
British  government.  Duche  was  the  author  of 
a  series  of  letters  purporting  to  come  from  a 
young  Englishman  bearing  the  astonishing 
name  of  Tamoc  Caspipina  in  which  things 
American  are  described  for  titled  correspond- 
ents at  home  with  all  admiration  for  the  new 
land  and  everything  in  it,  especially  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Church  of  England.  But  the 
letter  which  he  wrote  to  George  Washington 
after  the  British  occupation  of  Philadelphia, 
urging  the  general  to  persuade  Congress  to 
yield,  or  if  Congress  will  not  yield,  then  to  use 
his  power  as  head  of  the  army  to  compel  them 
to  submission,  was  his  most  fatal  error.  Wash- 
ington promptly  sent  the  letter  to  Congress. 
Duche' s  somersault  disgusted  and  enraged  the 
hardy  patriots.  Witherspoon  gave  vent  to  his 
scorn  in  a  series  of  questions  and  answers 
which  form  a  list  of  epithets  which  exhaust  the 
vocabulary  of  opprobrium,  which  he  called 
Caspipina's  Catechism.  Witherspoon  was  not 
suspected  of  being  its  author,  but  I  found  the 
manuscript  of  it  among  his  papers. 


244  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

Q.     Who  is  a  Fox? 

A.     The  Rev.  Jacob  Duche. 

Q.     What  is  your  reason  for  that  opinion  ? 

A.  Because  he  walks  the  street  in  the  habit 
of  a  clergyman  with  the  gestures  of  a  petit 
maitre. 

He  is  a  turncoat,  because  after  being  chaplain 
of  Congress  he  entered  the  service  of  Howe ;  a 
robber  deserving  of  the  gallows  because  he 
pocketed  the  pay  of  Congress  when  he  was  an 
enemy  to  their  cause ;  he  was  a  hypocrite,  a 
fool,  a  rogue,  a  blasphemer,  a  pedant;  a 
sycophant,  because  he  licked  the  feet  of  the 
New  England  delegates ;  a  conceited  creature, 
a  liar  and  an  ass.  Then  the  question  is  asked, 
"  How  comes  it  that  so  many  inconsistencies 
meet  in  one  man  ?  "  It  seems  to  be  unanswer- 
able except  on  one  supposition.  "  I  can  give 
no  other  account  of  it  but  that  if  God  Almighty 
has  given  a  man  a  topsy-turvy  understanding 
no  created  power  will  ever  be  able  to  set  it  right 
end  uppermost."  In  answer  to  the  last  ques- 
tion :  "  What  is  your  opinion  of  him  now  ?  "  the 
reply  is,  "  That  he  is  a  wretch  without  principle, 
without  parts,  without  prudence,  and  that  by 
one  unexpected  effort  he  has  crept  up  from  the 
grand  floor  of  contempt  to  the  first  story  of 
detestation." 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     245 

Poor  Duche  departed  for  England,  not 
having  the  courage  to  face  his  former  friends 
when  they  returned  to  Philadelphia.  Nor  did 
he  appear  there  again  until  1792  when  old, 
paralytic,  broken-hearted,  he  returned  to  spend 
the  last  six  years  of  his  life  in  the  city  where 
he  had  given  such  an  exhibition  of  strength 
and  weakness,  and  to  be  buried  beside  his  wife 
in  St.  Peter's  churchyard. 

Some  of  the  acts  of  Congress  are  excusable 
for  many  reasons.  But  it  hardly  seems  pos- 
sible to  justify  the  action  taken  by  that  body  in 
the  case  of  Burgoyne's  soldiers.  When  that 
unfortunate  general  surrendered  it  was  agreed 
between  himself  and  General  Gates  that  his 
troops,  having  surrendered  their  arms  and 
colours  and  given  their  parole,  as  they  all  did, 
should  be  turned  over  to  General  Howe  and 
transported  to  England.  From  the  victorious 
army  and  its  officers  the  defeated  British  and 
Hessians  had  received  only  kindness.  But 
when  the  colours  of  a  regiment  had  been  dis- 
covered hidden  in  the  baggage  belonging  to  it, 
and  when  General  Howe  suggested  that  it 
would  be  easier  to  disembark  the  prisoners  at 
Newport  than  at  Boston,  Congress  took  alarm, 
and  suspected  that  Howe  intended  to  use  the 
soldiers  against  New  York  instead  of  sending 


246  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

them  back  to  England.  Congress  further 
ordered  that  the  supplies  which  had  been 
furnished  these  troops  should  be  paid  for  in 
gold,  refusing  to  accept  Continental  paper 
money.  When  Burgoyne  wrote  to  Gates  com- 
plaining that  his  quarters  were  not  comfortable 
he  used  the  expression  "  the  public  faith  is 
broke."  Upon  this  some  of  the  Congressmen 
took  alarm,  declaring  that  if  Burgoyne  con- 
sidered the  agreement  broken  he  evidently 
would  not  abide  by  it.  The  result  was  that 
while  Burgoyne  was  exchanged  and  permitted 
to  go  home  to  England  his  soldiers  were  never 
sent  away.  Witherspoon  voted  on  all  the 
questions  relating  to  the  convention  with 
Burgoyne  as  if  he  believed  the  British  general 
had  violated  its  terms.  One  of  the  worst 
incidents  connected  with  the  affair  was  that 
in  which  the  Congress  insisted  that  the  supplies 
furnished  the  captives  should  be  paid  for  in 
gold,  not  in  the  paper  currency  of  the  Congress. 
Whether  Witherspoon  assented  to  this  feature 
of  the  case  I  cannot  say,  but  the  resolutions 
adopted  forbidding  the  soldiers  to  debark  until 
they  should  sign  a  parole  giving  a  description 
of  their  place  of  abode  are  in  Witherspoon's 
handwriting,  he  having  been  one  of  the  com- 
mittee to  consider  the  matter. 


VVITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     247 

Through  the  winter  he  served  on  various 
committees,  to  inquire  into  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  and  non-combatants  by  the  enemy, 
to  see  about  the  purchase  of  salt,  to  ex- 
amine letters  from  various  persons,  to  revise 
the  rules  for  the  business  of  Congress,  to  con- 
sider the  best  way  of  securing  clothing  for  the 
army  and  to  examine  the  pay  rolls  and  arrear- 
ages of  the  New  Jersey  militia.  As  a  result  of 
one  of  these  investigations  the  clothier-general 
was  ordered  to  suspend  the  purchase  of  cloth- 
ing. There  was  extravagance  and  waste,  if  not 
fraud,  in  this  department,  and  the  board  of  war 
took  up  the  matter  and  straightened  the  affairs. 
Later  he  served  upon  a  committee  to  rectify 
abuses  in  the  post-office.  In  the  spring  he 
spoke  earnestly  against  the  custom  of  creating 
unnecessary  offices,  and  especially  the  method 
of  paying  commissions  for  work  done  in  the 
public  service  and  in  the  army,  maintaining 
that  the  practice  led  to  unnecessary  expense 
and  inefficiency.  For  this  method  he  recom- 
mended the  substitution  of  the  contract  system, 
which  resulted  in  a  reduction  of  five  per  cent, 
in  the  expenses. 

When  Robert  Morris  assumed  control  of  the 
finances  he  found  his  own  department  and 
many  others  burdened  with  so  many  useless 


248  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

officials  that  less  than  a  third  were  required  to 
transact  the  business,  and  the  discharge  of  the 
others  saved  great  sums  of  money  not  only  in 
the  salaries  but  in  the  more  economical  service 
in  every  way. 

Witherspoon  was  the  only  clergyman  in  the 
Continental  Congress  and  always  wore  the 
distinctive  dress  of  his  calling.  He  frequently 
officiated  as  chaplain  and  often  preached  in  one 
of  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  Philadelphia. 
John  Adams  records  his  impression  of  a  very 
excellent  sermon  "  On  redeeming  time,"  which 
he  heard  with  great  pleasure  in  1777,  although 
he  remarks  that  Witherspoon's  memory  seemed 
to  be  less  sure  than  formerly,  which  Adams 
attributes  to  the  necessity  of  the  hasty  prepara- 
tion of  his  speeches  in  Congress  which  he  did  not 
have  time  to  write  fully  and  commit  to  memory. 
In  July,  1778,  the  question  came  before  Congress 
whether  that  body  might  appoint  an  ecclesiastic 
to  office.  Over  the  Protestants  of  that  day 
hung  the  dread  of  ecclesiastical  domination, 
and  every  indication  of  its  possibility  was 
viewed  with  alarm.  Witherspoon,  devoted  to 
his  own  church  and  uncompromisingly  hostile 
to  church  establishment  in  America,  did  not 
share  the  fears  of  his  fellow  Congressmen  and 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     249 

declared  that  Congress  had  no  right  to  inquire 
into  the  church  relations  of  its  officers. 

From  his  work  in  Congress  he  turned  in  the 
fall  of  1778  to  compose  one  of  his  pieces  of 
biting  sarcasm  in  an  attack  upon  Benjamin 
Towne,  publisher  of  the  Pennsylvania  Evening 
Post,  who  had  supported  the  Congress  in  his 
paper  until  the  arrival  of  the  British  in  1777. 
Throughout  their  stay  he  filled  his  columns 
with  attacks  upon  Congress  in  general  and  its 
members  and  the  officers  of  the  army  in  par- 
ticular. He  courted  the  favour  of  General 
Howe,  and  conducted  the  Post  as  a  pro-British 
organ.  Upon  the  departure  of  the  English  and 
the  return  of  the  Congress,  Towne,  instead  of 
leaving  as  Galloway,  Duche  and  others  did, 
professed  to  have  returned  to  the  cause  of 
America  and  sought  to  prevent  the  confisca- 
tion of  his  paper.  Witherspoon  entertained 
nothing  but  contempt  for  the  cowardly  printer. 
His  mock  recantation  was  sent  to  the  Fish  Kill 
Gazette  where  it  would  be  most  likely  to  fall 
under  the  notice  of  the  British  in  New  York. 
It  is  a  covert  attack  upon  James  Rivington, 
publisher  of  The  Royal  Gazette  of  New  York. 
Poor  Towne  is  mercilessly  scored  and  presented 
as  a  snivelling  coward,  with  no  character  nor 


250  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

patriotism,  ready  to  fall  in  with  any  man  or 
party,  good  or  bad,  who  will  further  his  in- 
terests. He  is  made  to  say,  in  his  recantation 
that  "  I  never  was  nor  ever  pretended  to  be  a 
man  of  character,  repute  or  dignity." 

An  occasion  arose  in  the  autumn  for  testing 
the  hold  which  Washington  had  upon  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Congress.  Some  time  before  this 
he  had  opposed  a  suggestion  of  Congress  that 
prisoners  who  were  willing  should  be  enlisted 
to  serve  in  the  American  army.  There  were 
numbers  of  deserters  from  the  British,  especially 
among  the  Hessians,  who  were  willing  to  take 
such  service.  Washington  had  opposed  this 
on  the  very  best  grounds,  and  Congress  had 
accepted  his  view.  In  the  summer  of  1778, 
however,  Count  Pulaski,  the  gallant  Polish  gen- 
eral who  had  rendered  notable  service  in  the 
American  army,  formed  his  famous  legion  of 
nondescript  men,  many  of  them  English  and 
Hessian  deserters,  reckless  fellows,  but  daring 
soldiers.  They  were  not  easily  controlled  and 
often  spread  terror  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their 
quarters,  by  their  bold  foraging  and  riotous 
ways.  Congress  wished  to  call  him  to  account 
for  it,  but  Witherspoon  opposed  any  interference 
and  supported  the  advice  of  Washington  who 
told  Congress  that  despite  its  contradiction  of 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     251 

his  previous  opinion,  and  although  he  didn't 
like  it  and  thought  it  bad  discipline,  he  would 
let  it  go,  considering  Pulaski's  energy  and 
bravery.  Witherspoon's  uniform  policy  in  mili- 
tary matters  was  for  Congress  to  let  Washing- 
ton alone,  as  far  as  was  possible,  in  his  manage- 
ment of  the  campaigns. 

In  the  fall  of  1779  Witherspoon  refused  a  re- 
election to  Congress  on  the  ground  that  he 
could  not  bear  the  expense  and,  more  particu- 
larly, that  he  might  attend  to  his  private  affairs 
and  his  duties  at  the  college.  Washington  was 
at  Morristown  with  his  army.  In  the  spring  of 
1 780,  he  made  requisitions  for  supplies  from  the 
counties  of  New  Jersey.  Witherspoon  inter- 
ested himself  in  furnishing  Somerset's  quota  and 
received  the  personal  thanks  of  Washington, 
who  likewise  said  he  did  not  like  to  suggest  to 
Congress  what  Witherspoon  suggested  to  him, 
namely,  that  the  certificates  or  receipts  given 
for  supplies  might  be  received  as  taxes,  but  he 
promised  to  do  what  he  could  towards  having 
them  redeemed  in  good  money. 

Witherspoon  was  again  in  Congress  in  the 
autumn  serving  on  various  committees ;  helping 
to  prepare  Dana's  commission .  as  minister  to 
Russia ;  conferring  with  the  French  minister, 
Gerard,  on  the  subject  of  Laurens'  mission, 


252  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

which  involved  the  terms  of  peace ;  looking 
after  the  publication  of  two  hundred  copies 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Arti- 
cles of  Confederation,  alliances  between  the 
United  States  and  France,  and  the  constitutions 
of  the  several  states,  all  to  be  bound  together  in 
boards.  His  attendance  upon  the  sessions  was, 
however,  very  irregular.  Timing  his  absences 
so  that  he  might  not  miss  any  of  the  more  im- 
portant discussions,  he  was  present  to  protest 
against  the  practical  repudiation  of  the  conti- 
nental currency  by  some  of  the  states  and  to 
vote  a  loud  ay  in  favour  of  some  stronger  addi- 
tions to  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  although 
he  regretted  that  the  union  was  not  closer  and 
more  permanent.  In  one  instance  his  vote  was 
a  mistake  when  he  voted  against  Morris's  sum- 
mary removal  from  office  of  the  supernumerary 
clerks,  whose  presence  was  crippling  the  treas- 
ury. But  his  executive  ability  was  recognized 
by  his  being  chosen  one  of  a  committee  to  de- 
vise ways  and  means  to  carry  on  the  campaign. 
This  committee  suggested  that  the  states  should 
support  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  with 
funds  for  which  the  treasurer  was  ordered  to 
draw  upon  them  for  three  millions,  duly  and 
fairly  proportioned.  This  was  all  very  well,  but 
Morris,  with  no  authority  to  enforce  the  decrees 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     253 

of  Congress,  the  confederacy  being  so  loose,  had 
great  difficulty  in  collecting  the  quotas.  Some 
of  his  letters  betray  the  deepest  disgust,  and  he 
speaks  his  mind  very  freely  to  the  delinquent 
state  governments.  When  some  of  them, 
through  their  representatives  in  Congress,  sug- 
gested that  contributions  of  clothing  should  be 
credited  to  them  in  lieu  of  money  due,  Wither- 
spoon  joined  Morris  in  opposing  such  a  de 
moralizing  step,  and  had  a  very  poor  opinion 
of  such  statesmanship. 

Finally  when  Morris  brought  in  his  plan 
for  a  national  bank,  Witherspoon  gave  his 
hearty  support  to  this,  one  of  the  most  efficient 
of  the  great  financier's  plans  for  placing  the 
finances  of  the  country  on  a  sound  basis. 
Witherspoon' s  views  of  finance  and  of  money 
will  be  discussed  in  succeeding  pages.  An  affair 
of  a  personal  nature  demanded  his  attention  this 
year.  He  learned  that  his  son,  John,  had  been 
taken  prisoner  by  the  British.  I  have  already 
stated  that  John  Witherspoon,  Jr.,  was  a  phy- 
sician. He  served  in  the  Continental  army  and 
this  year  attempted  to  go  abroad  to  purchase 
surgical  instruments  and  necessary  medicinal 
supplies.  He  took  passage  on  the  privateer 
De  Graaf,  which  was  captured  at  St.  Eustatius 
by  the  British.  Because  of  his  father's  promi- 


254  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

nence  the  son  was  treated  with  extraordinary 
harshness  in  a  London  prison.  When  Wither- 
spoon  learned  of  his  son's  plight  he  wrote  to 
Franklin,  who  was  able  to  secure  the  young 
man's  release,  and,  when  that  was,  after  some 
trouble,  finally  effected,  took  care  of  him  in  Paris 
until  his  father  sent  money  for  his  expenses.  In 
November  Franklin  was  able  to  start  the  young 
physician  on  his  homeward  way,  and  wrote  to 
his  father,  "  I  hope  you  will  have  the  pleasure 
of  receiving  with  this  your  long  absent  son,  who 
appears  to  me  a  valuable  young  man.  On  the 
receipt  of  your  letter  I  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Lon- 
don to  furnish  him  with  what  money  he  should 
have  occasion  for  to  bring  him  hither ;  and  here 
I  delivered  to  him  the  second  of  your  letters  of 
credit  whereby  he  has  been  enabled  to  repay 
me." 

4.    STEPS  TOWARDS  PEACE 

As  early  as  February,  1 778,  George  Johnstone, 
an  Englishman  friendly  to  America,  wrote  to 
Robert  Morris  that  the  peace  party  in  the  Par- 
liament seemed  to  be  in  the  ascendant.  In  the 
same  month  the  British  ministry  suddenly  re- 
versed its  policy,  repealed  all  the  obnoxious  acts, 
resistance  to  which  had  caused  the  war,  and 
sent  three  commissioners  to  treat  for  peace. 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     255 

They  came  too  late,  nor  did  they  offer  accepta- 
ble terms.  The  same  year  Spain's  offer  to 
mediate  in  the  struggle  was  rejected  by  England, 
and  the  war  went  on.  But  in  March  of  the  next 
year  the  French  minister  in  the  United  States, 
Gerard,  suggested  to  the  Congress  that  they 
draw  up  instructions  for  their  plenipotentiaries, 
setting  forth  what  they  would  demand  and  what 
they  would  yield.  Then  began  a  very  earnest 
debate.  Of  course  the  one  thing  which  they 
would  never  yield  was  independence.  What 
Witherspoon  wrote  from  his  quiet  home  at 
Princeton  in  1 780  was  felt  by  every  member  of 
the  Congress  in  1779,  that  they  would  never 
give  up  "  though  our  condition  were  ten  times 
worse  than  it  is."  Then  came  the  question  of 
boundaries  and  of  certain  other  rights.  Wither- 
spoon was  not  present  during  the  earlier  dis- 
cussion, when  it  was  decided  to  insist  on  what 
is  practically  our  present  northern  boundary, 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
privilege  of  fishing  on  the  coasts  of  Newfound- 
land. The  first  point  was  claimed  by  Virginia, 
because  of  her  supposed  interest  in  the  north- 
west territory,  and  especially  because  nobody 
wanted  England  on  the  upper  Mississippi.  The 
second  point  was  felt  to  be  necessary  for  the 
trade  of  the  western  territory,  while  the  third 


256  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

was  made  in  the  interest  of  the  fishermen  of  New 
England.  Later  in  the  spring  Spain  gave  no- 
tice that  she  would  not  grant  any  rights  on  the 
Mississippi.  A  committee,  of  which  Wither- 
spoon  was  one,  was  appointed  to  consider  this 
delicate  question,  and,  as  a  result  of  the  delib- 
eration, Congress  agreed  not  to  insist  on  this 
right  but  only  to  insist  that  England  be  shut  out 
of  the  Mississippi  altogether.  Until  peace  was 
finally  secured  the  terms  were  discussed  in  all 
phases  and  with  varying  modifications.  John 
Adams,  who  had  been  sent  to  Holland  in  1777 
to  treat  with  that  country,  was  later  appointed 
a  plenipotentiary  to  negotiate  for  peace  with 
England  and  make  a  treaty  of  commerce.  It 
was  expected  that  he  would  confer  with  the 
French,  but  he  proceeded  at  first  without  refer- 
ence to  France.  By  the  terms  of  the  French 
alliance  America  was  under  obligations  to  make 
no  terms  which  did  not  include  France,  but  the 
Americans  did  not  know  that  the  French  had  a 
secret  treaty  with  Spain,  which  country  had 
been  dragged  into  the  war.  Adams'  positive 
and  independent  manner  gave  offense  to  the 
French  court,  which  tried  to  have  him  recalled. 
Failing  in  that,  which  was  opposed  by  the  Con- 
gress, Gerard  was  ordered  to  secure  such  modi- 
fication of  his  instructions  as  would  make  him 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     257 

subject  to  the  directions  of  the  French  court. 
The  story  of  all  this  negotiation  is  told  by  With- 
erspoon  in  a  manuscript  which  I  have  found 
among  his  papers  and  which,  so  far  as  I  know, 
has  never  been  published.  He  speaks  at  first 
hand,  for  he  was  one  of  the  committee  to  exam- 
ine the  correspondence  between  Adams  and  the 
Duke  de  Vergennes,  foreign  minister  of  France, 
and  to  confer  with  Gerard  upon  many  features 
of  the  delicate  situation.  His  account  of  it  is  as 
follows : l 

Sir,  I  now  sit  down  agreably  to  your  request 
to  recollect  and  commit  to  writing  the  circum- 
stances most  worthy  of  notice  at  the  time  of 
Congress  in  agreeing  to  the  final  instructions  to 
our  commissioners  for  negotiating  peace,  and 
to  point  out  the  views  which  seemed  to  me 
chiefly  to  have  governed  that  body  and  induced 
them  to  direct  our  commissioners  to  be  ulti- 
mately guided  by  the  opinion  and  judgment  of 
the  court  of  France. 

It  will  not  be  improper  to  premise  some  short 
remarks  upon  the  state  of  things  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  both  before  and  after  the 
French  alliance. 

1  The  words  which  I  have  been  unable  to  decipher  with  cer- 
tainty I  have  placed  in  brackets  [  ].  The  italics  and  spelling  are 
Witherspoon's. 


258  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

-It  was  from  the  first  appearance  of  things 
coming  to  extremities  admitted  by  all  that  the 
chief  if  not  the  only  quarter  from  which  we  were 
to  look  for  foreign  aid  was  France,  as  also  that 
foreign  aid  was  necessary — that  is  to  say  that 
unless  we  had  foreign  aid  we  could  not  expect 
to  establish  our  independence  but  after  many 
years  of  suffering,  a  depopulated  country  and  a 
deluge  of  blood  and  that  most  probably  some 
of  the  states  themselves  might  have  been  lost. 

I  do  not  remember  any  difference  of  opinion 
worth  mentioning  upon  either  of  these  two 
points.  Therefore  our  views  were  directed  to 
France — there  was  a  much  greater  difference  of 
opinion  whether  we  should  offer  our  alliance  to 
any  other  Power. 

When  application  was  made  to  France  that 
Court  proceeded  with  the  utmost  caution.  It 
was  easy,  however,  from  the  whole  intercourse 
to  perceive  two  things,  (i)  That  both  the  court 
and  nation  of  France  were  very  desirous  that 
we  should  be  supported  and  succeed.  (2)  That 
at  the  same  time  they  were  exceedingly  doubt- 
ful whether  it  was  safe  for  them  to  involve  them- 
selves much  with  us,  or  openly  to  take  a  part. 

This  backwardness  was  plainly  from  two  dif- 
ferent causes  which  seemed  to  have  almost  equal 
influence,  (i)  Jealousy  of  us  lest  we  should  not 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     259 

adhere  to  our  resolutions  but  draw  back  and 
make  peace  with  England.  (2)  Necessary  fear 
of  the  power  of  England  and  particularly  its 
naval  force.  They  have  hardly  even  yet  been 
wholly  free  from  either  of  these  apprehensions. 
The  affairs  of  the  United  States  were  never 
in  a  more  critical  situation  than  in  December, 
1776,  when  Congress  went  to  Baltimore.  There 
never  was  a  greater  need  for,  or  greater  anxiety 
to  obtain,  foreign  aid.  The  number  that  at- 
tended Congress  then  was  small,  but  their 
measures  were  decided  and,  I  believe,  judicious. 
I  do  not  remember  one  word  of  despondency  to 
have  fallen  from  any  member  or  the  most  dis- 
tant hint  of  a  desire  to  make  submission  to 
England,  but  the  means  of  persuading  France 
to  interpose  effectually  were  the  great  subject 
of  deliberation  and  discussion.  At  that  time 
there  was  a  letter  or  letters  mentioned  from  a 
person  in  France  which  intimated  that  we 
should  make  propositions  to  France  to  induce 
them  to  support  us  in  an  effectual  manner  and 
even  this  sentiment ,  was  spoke  of  as  coming 
from  that  quarter,  that  if  we  would  put  France 
in  the  place  of  England  they  would  certainly 
protect  us.  This  came  from  no  official  persons, 
nor  was  directed  to  any  official  body,  nor  had 
we  any  reason  to  suppose  that  it  was  done  at 


260  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

the  suggestion  of  the  Court  of  France.  I  do 
not  believe  it  was.  The  proposition  was  not 
worthy  of  being  taken  into  consideration. 

There  were,  however,  some  persons  in  Con- 
gress who  reasoned  in  this  manner :  It  is  plain 
we  cannot  be  supported  without  foreign  aid. 
There  is  no  place  to  which  we  can  apply  with 
probability  of  success  but  France.  We  know 
she  is  disposed  to  assist  us,  but  we  have  given 
no  sufficient  inducement  to  that  power  to  inter- 
fere. We  have  offered  nothing  to  France  but 
what  we  have  offered  to  every  other  nation. 
The  proposals  mentioned  were  to  offer  France 
an  exclusive  trade  with  the  United  States  for  a 
limited  time  or  to  offer  them  an  exclusive  trade 
in  some  particular  articles  or  to  offer  them  in 
distinction  from  other  nations  a  promise  of  free- 
dom from  imposts,  etc. 

After  a  very  deliberate  and  accurate  dis- 
cussion it  was  the  opinion  of  a  very  consider- 
able majority  of  Congress  to  make  no  such 
proposals ;  that  they  were  contrary  to  the  very 
spirit  of  our  undertaking,  that  if  we  were  to  be 
independent  we  would  be  independent  of  all  the 
world,  that  to  separate  the  United  States  from 
England  was  an  object  of  itself  sufficiently 
interesting  to  France,  that  it  did  not  appear 
from  any  communications  made  to  our  com- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     261 

missioners  that  the  Court  of  France  desired  any 
such  preferences,  but  that  their  slowness  and 
caution  were  from  other  causes. 

Therefore  Congress  sent  the  most  solemn 
assurances  that  we  never  would  give  up  or,  in 
the  least  degree,  recede  from  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Soon  after  this  instructions  were 
given  to  our  commissioners  to  propose  to  the 
Court  of  France  that  if  they  would  enter  into 
the  war  with  us  we  would  assist  to  the  utmost 
of  our  power  in  the  conquest  of  the  West  Indies 
by  furnishing  provisions  and  stores  for  the  fleets 
and  armies  of  the  King  of  France  and  by  any 
other  way  in  our  power  and  that  all  such  con- 
quests should  remain  with  France.  One  of  the 
copies  of  these  instructions  was  taken  on  the 
passage,  published  in  London,  republished  in 
Charlestown,  South  Carolina,  and  from  these 
papers  published  in  Philadelphia,  yet  neither 
friends  nor  enemies  discerned  or  suspected  from 
them  the  nature  of  the  important  debate  which 
had  preceded  them. 

Soon  after  the  capture  of  Burgoyne,  the 
Court  of  France  came  to  a  determined  resolu- 
tion to  support  us  vigorously ;  the  first  authentic 
assurance  of  this  was  contained  in  letters  from 
our  commissioners  of  date  December  6,  1777, 
and  reached  us  about  the  last  of  January,  1778, 


262  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

though  the  treaty  was  not  subscribed  till  the  6th 
of  February  that  year. 

It  is  easy  to  see  from  the  treaty  itself  that 
the  French  Court  were  still  somewhat  appre- 
hensive of  the  issue,  for  they  put  in  the  eighth 
article  that  they  were  not  to  lay  down  their 
arms  till  the  Independence  of  America  shall 
have  been  formally  or  tacitly  assured,  etc. 

In  the  year  1779,  when  the  first  proposal  was 
made  of  attempting  a  treaty  of  peace  under  the 
mediation  of  the  Emperor  and  King  of  Spain, 
Congress  was  called  upon  to  consider  and 
determine  upon  what  terms  of  peace  they 
would  be  willing  to  accept,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  be  prepared  for  war.  At  that  time,  in 
a  very  large  and  full  conference  with  M.  Gerard, 
the  French  minister,  he  particularly  and  strongly 
recommended  to  Congress  not  to  be  too  high 
in  their  demands  and  indeed  discovered  an 
apprehension  that  we  might  mar  the  treaty  by 
being  so.  Probably  this  might  be  occasioned 
or  augmented  by  some  rash  publications  at  that 
time  insisting  that  we  ought  not  to  make  peace 
without  having  Canada,  Florida  and  Nova 
Scotia  added  to  us.  The  minister  took  great 
pains  to  represent  to  Congress  that  much 
would  depend  upon  the  opinion  the  mediating 
powers  might  form  of  our  temper  and  disposition, 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     263 

and  that  it  was  plain  England  took  all  possible 
pains  to  represent  us  as  an  ambitious  people 
that  wanted  to  extend  their  bounds,  and  would 
be  dangerous  to  other  nations.  In  this  confer- 
ence also  he  told  us  that  the  events  of  war  were 
uncertain,  that,  therefore,  we  ought  not  to  be 
too  confident  and  particularly  he  used  the 
expression  that  it  was  hard  to  say  what  might 
be  the  effect  of  a  decisive  victory  at  sea.  If 
Rodney's  victory  in  the  West  Indies  had  hap- 
pened two  years  sooner  than  it  did  its  effect 
would  have  been  perhaps  fatal  to  us. 

From  this  state  of  things,  and  all  that  fol- 
lowed, I  am  convinced  that  nothing  could  be 
more  false  than  the  supposition  of  some  persons 
that  France  wanted  the  war  to  continue  for  the 
purpose  of  ambition  and  the  greater  humiliation 
of  her  enemy.  On  the  contrary,  France  always 
discovered  a  desire  to  have  the  war  terminated, 
and  listened  to  any  proposal  for  this  purpose, 
perhaps  prompted  or  suggested  the  offers  of 
mediation  from  Spain,  the  Emperor  and  Russia. 
This  was  the  natural  consequence  of  the  two 
causes  above  assigned  for  her  slowness  and 
caution  in  entering  upon  the  war. 

Mr.  John  Adams  was  chosen  for  the  purpose 
and  a  commission  for  negotiating  a  peace  with 
Great  Britain  was  given  to  him  alone.  The  in- 


264  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

stmctions  at  first  sent  to  him  contained  descrip- 
tions of  our  claims  as  to  territory  and  made  the 
following  particulars  essentially  necessary  to  our 
making  peace: — the  extension  of  our  bounds 
to  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  latitude  north  and  to 
the  Mississippi  westward — the  right  of  fishing 
on  the  banks  of  New  Foundland  and  a  free 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth. 

When  Mr.  Adams  was  in  France  he  thought 
it  best  to  intimate  to  the  Court  of  England  as 
from  himself  that  he  had  a  commission  for 
negotiating  peace.  The  Court  of  France  was 
of  opinion  that  that  term  was  not  proper,  that 
things  were  not  sufficiently  ripe  for  it  and  that 
no  such  separate  intimation  should  be  made  and 
that  it  might  encourage  England  in  the  expec- 
tation of  England's  making  a  separate  treaty 
with  America  and  dividing  the  allies,  a  thing 
which  they  earnestly  desired  and  made  repeated 
attempts  to  accomplish.  In  a  correspondence 
between  Mr.  Adams  and  the  D.  de  Vergennes 
on  this  subject  and  also  on  the  subject  of  the 
act  of  Congress  of  the  i8th  of  March,  '80,  esti- 
mating the  continental  currency  at  forty  per 
cent,  Mr.  Adams  mentioned  his  opinions  with 
a  tenaciousness  which  gave  great  offense  to  the 
Court  of  France,  and  indeed  such  was  the  man- 
ner of  his  entering  upon  these  subjects  that  he 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     265 

was  finally  forbid  to  continue  it  by  an  express 
order  de  par  de  le  Roi. 

In  the  year  1781  Congress  entered  upon  the 
reconsideration  of  the  instructions  formerly  sent 
to  Mr.  Adams,  particularly  the  making  essential 
conditions  of  the  [  ]  boundary,  of  the 

fishing  in  Newfoundland  and  the  free  naviga- 
tion of  the  Mississippi — the  last  of  these  we 
learned  from  our  ministers  was  very  disagre- 
able  to  the  Court  of  Spain,  another  one,  the 
fishing,  not  very  agreable  to  the  Court  of 
France,  who  had  not  the  right  by  treaty  them- 
selves and  the  other  we  had  reason  to  suspect 
that  England  might  be  very  timorous  upon, 
nor  did  we  know  what  might  be  the  sentiments 
of  the  mediating  powers  or  the  Powers  of 
Europe  in  general  as  to  our  right  or  the  ex- 
pediency of  our  having  such  extensive  domin- 
ions. It  was  also  to  be  considered  that  as  none 
of  these  particulars  was  specified  in  the  alliance 
with  France  the  question  was  necessarily  re- 
duced to  this  form,  whether  though  France 
should  not  support  us  in  these  claims  we  would 
continue  the  war  ourselves  unless  they  were 
granted. 

In  this  situation  after  much  and  long  discus- 
sion it  was  at  last  resolved  as  to  all  the  three 
to  depart  from  making  them  absolute  and 


266  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

essential  conditions  lest  at  our  distance  it 
should  be  a  bar  to  an  otherwise  honourable 
peace. 

The  spirit,  therefore  of  the  final  instructions 
was  that  [high  claims]  should  still  serve  to 
them  what  we  wished  and  thought  we  ought 
to  obtain  but  from  a  desire  of  peace  we  left  it 
to  our  ministers  in  conjunction  with  our  allies 
to  do  what  circumstances  should  discover  to  be 
wisest  upon  the  whole.  When  these  matters 
were  interesting  them  the  minister  of  France 
often  intimated  both  to  committees  in  confer- 
ence with  him  and  to  particular  members  of 
Congress  that  it  would  be  highly  agreeable  to 
his  court  that  Congress  should  leave  nothing 
in  general  or  undetermined  but  say  expressly 
upon  any  particular  what  they  would  or  what 
they  would  not  yield.  It  could  not  surely  be 
known  with  certainty  whether  this  arose  chiefly 
or  only  from  their  jealousy  of  Mr.  Adams  or 
whether  they  preferred  upon  the  whole  that  as 
little  should  be  left  discretionary  as  possible  lest 
blame  should  be  laid  upon  themselves. 

When  the  instructions  were  therefore  agreed 
upon  communications  were  made  of  them  to 
the  minister  of  France  and  the  directions  were 
given  in  the  same  manner  as  always  had  been 
done  to  our  minister  to  make  the  most  free  and 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     267 

candid  communications  of  all  his  proceedings 
to  the  Court  of  France  and  to  avail  himself  of 
the  assistance,  friendship  and  influence  of  that 
court  in  all  his  transactions.  Then  a  difficulty 
arose  which  was  trying  indeed  ;  it  appeared 
that  this  was  not  sufficient  in  the  present 
instance — the  minister  read  to  the  committee 
the  letters  of  the  D.  de  Vergennes  upon  the 
subject  of  Mr.  Adams,  complaining  of  him  in 
the  strongest  terms  and  expressing  their  fears 
of  the  negotiations  being  marred  by  his  stiff- 
ness and  tenaciousness  of  purpose.  It  was 
natural  to  suppose  and  probably  was  supposed 
by  the  members  of  the  committee  that  the 
minister  wished  Congress  would  take  that 
commission  from  Mr.  Adams  and  give  it  to 
some  other  though  no  such  thing  was  read  to 
the  committee  from  D.  de  Vergennes  nor  pro- 
posed by  the  minister  himself. 

When  this  matter  was  reported  to  Congress 
a  very  serious  deliberation  was  taken  upon  it. 
What  Mr.  Adams  had  done  by  which  he  had  in- 
curred the  displeasure  of  the  minister  of  the  king 
of  France  had  been  undoubtedly  from  his  zeal 
and  attachment  to  the  interest  and  honour  of 
the  United  States,  his  ability  and  his  unshaken 
fidelity  were  well  known.  In  such  a  case  to 
displace  a  minister  merely  because  he  had 


268  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

given  umbrage  to  some  at  the  court  where  he 
resided  by  an  excess  of  well  meant  zeal  seemed 
to  be  a  most  pernicious  example  and  possibly 
would  have  the  worst  effects  upon  succeeding 
ministers  and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  done. 
The  writer  of  this  memorial  of  facts  in  particular 
was  clearly  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Adams  judged 
[wrong]  in  bello  the  points  which  he  contested 
in  his  correspondence  with  the  D.  de  Vergennes 
the  reasons  for  which  need  not  be  mentioned 
yet  he  was  clearly  of  opinion  to  sacrifice  a 
minister  of  unquestionable  integrity  ought  not 
in  any  event  to  be  submitted  to  merely  because 
he  had  had  more  zeal  than  good  manners  and 
[assuring  presence].  Therefore  it  was  pro- 
posed that  a  clause  should  be  added  to  the  in- 
structions to  this  purpose  and  that  he  should 
do  nothing  without  the  consent  and  approbation 
of  the  Court  of  France. 

Another  committee  was  appointed  to  confer 
with  the  minister  and  make  this  communication. 
But  in  conference  this  also  was  in  his  opinion 
insufficient.  He  repeated  the  fears  they  had 
of  difficulties  with  Mr.  Adams  and  insisted  that 
by  this  new  clause  he  was  only  bound  nega- 
tively, that  he  could  not  indeed  do  anything 
without  the  consent  of  the  Court  of  France  but 
he  might  obstruct  every  measure  and  unless  he 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     269 

was  perfectly  satisfied  effectually  prevent  any- 
thing being  done. 

When  this  was  reported  to  Congress  the  mat- 
ter appeared  exceedingly  delicate  and  difficult. 
It  was  discussed  at  great  length.  All  the  objec- 
tions against  removing  Mr.  Adams  were  argued 
in  their  full  force.  But  on  the  other  hand  it 
appeared  humiliating  at  least  if  not  dangerous 
to  deliver  ourselves  entirely  to  the  Court  of 
France.  However  after  full  deliberation  it  was 
agreed  by  the  majority  in  Congress  that  he 
should  be  absolutely  guided  by  the  opinion  and 
judgment  of  the  Court  of  France. 

As  this  particular  resolution  appeared  so 
dubious  to  several  worthy  members  of  Con- 
gress and  there  were  so  many  attempts  to 
reconsider  and  revoke  it  and  as  it  [in  the 
meantime]  was  the  subject  of  discussion  by  the 
public  at  large,  it  seems  necessary  to  recollect, 
while  circumstances  are  fresh  in  our  minds  and 
to  record,  the  necessity  or  the  reasons  that 
induced  the  plurality  to  embrace  it.  It  is  not 
intended  in  this  [rather  long]  memorial  to 
attempt  distinguishing  between  the  opinions  of 
one  member  and  another,  but  just  to  mention 
as  many  as  possible  of  the  sentiments  that  were 
proposed  and  advanced  by  those  who  finally 
voted  for  it. 


270  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

It  was  plain  that  from  the  first  rise  of  the  con- 
troversy we  had  been  greatly  indebted  to  the 
Court  of  France.  They  had  interposed  effect- 
ively and  seasonably  in  our  cause.  They  had 
exerted  themselves  with  much  vigour  and  zeal. 
They  had  put  themselves  to  very  great  expense 
upon  our  account.  At  the  very  time  when  this 
debate  was  agitated  our  most  necessary  ex- 
penses were  supported  by  them,  and  even  the 
subsistence  and  support  of  many  delegates  in 
Congress  was  from  bills  drawn  upon  France. 
We  had  accustomed  ourselves  by  many  public 
and  authentic  acts  to  call  the  King  of  France 
our  great  and  generous  ally.  Perhaps  there 
were  as  humiliating  expressions  in  many  of  the 
public  acts  and  proceedings  as  could  be  in  this 
resolution  which  might  well  be  considered  as 
the  effect  of  grateful  and  generous  sentiments. 

Let  us  now  follow  Witherspoon's  course  as  we 
can  trace  it  through  the  journals  of  Congress. 
When,  in  June,  1781,  it  was  proposed  to  asso- 
ciate other  commissioners  with  Adams,  Wither- 
spoon  opposed  it  in  a  very  vigorous  speech,  as 
he  had  opposed  the  recall  of  Adams.  He  was 
very  grateful  to  the  French,  as  he  tells  us  in  the 
memorial  just  quoted.  But  he  was  not  willing 
that  the  Congress  should  be  bound  hand  and 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     271 

foot  to  them.  He  contended  that  one  com- 
missioner was  sufficient  and  that  Adams  was 
the  proper  one.  He  had  earnestly  opposed 
Vergennes'  suggestion  that  they  might  enter 
into  a  truce  with  Great  Britain  for  twenty  years, 
New  York  to  be  given  to  the  United  States, 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina  to  the  English. 
In  the  end  it  was  determined  to  associate  four 
others  with  Adams,  only  three  of  whom  joined 
him,  namely,  Franklin,  Jay  and  Laurens,  al- 
though the  latter  arrived  just  in  time  to  sign 
the  preliminary  treaty.  Witherspoon  had  nomi- 
nated Reed  of  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  1781,  Witherspoon  offered 
the  following  further  instructions  to  the  min- 
ister who  was  to  negotiate  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States : 

"  But  as  to  disputed  boundaries  and  other 
particulars  we  refer  you  to  our  former  in- 
structions, from  which  you  will  easily  perceive 
the  desires  and  expectations  of  Congress,  but 
we  think  it  unsafe  at  this  distance  to  tie  you  up 
by  absolute  and  peremptory  directions  upon 
any  other  subject  than  the  two  essential  articles 
above  mentioned  (namely,  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  and  a  free  port  or  ports  below  the 
thirty-first  parallel  of  latitude).  You  will  there- 
fore ^use  your  own  judgment  and  prudence  in 


272  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

securing  the  interest  of  the  United  States  in  such 
manner  as  circumstances  may  direct  and  as  the 
state  of  the  belligerent  and  disposition  of  the 
mediating  powers  may  require. 

"  You  are  to  make  the  most  candid  and  con- 
fidential communications  upon  all  subjects  to 
the  ministers  of  our  generous  ally,  the  King  of 
France,  to  undertake  nothing  in  the  negotiations 
for  peace  without  their  knowledge  and  concur- 
rence, and  to  make  them  sensible  how  much  we 
rely  upon  his  majesty's  influence  for  effectual 
support  in  everything  that  may  be  necessary  to 
the  present  security  or  future  prosperity  of  the 
United  States  of  America." 

After  this  motion  had  been  debated  all  day  it 
was  lost  by  a  very  narrow  vote.  But  the  whole 
question  was  referred  to  a  committee  which,  the 
next  day,  reported  it  favourably  with  the  follow- 
ing additions : 

"  i.  You  are  to  use  your  utmost  endeavours 
to  secure  the  limits  fixed  exactly  according  to 
the  description  in  your  former  instructions. 

"  2.  If  that  cannot  be  obtained  it  is  the  wish 
of  Congress  that  a  peace  be  made  without  fix- 
ing northern  and  western  limits,  but  leaving  them 
to  future  discussion. 

"  3.  If  that  is  also  found  impracticable  and 
boundaries  must  be  ascertained  you  are  to  ob- 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     273 

tain  as  advantageous  a  settlement  as  possible  in 
favour  of  the  United  States." 

To  the  first  of  these  additions  every  member 
assented ;  the  second  received  the  vote  of  every 
state  except  New  Hampshire  and  half  of  Massa- 
chusetts, while  the  third  was  lost  by  a  narrow 
vote. 

Then  Witherspoon's  original  motion  came  up 
again,  and  after  being  vigorously  threshed  over, 
both  sections  were  adopted.  This  did  not  end 
the  matter.  On  the  9th  of  June  he  moved  to 
instruct  the  commissioners  that  they  might 
agree  to  a  truce  with  England  "  provided  that 
Great  Britain  be  not  left  in  possession  of  any 
part  of  the  thirteen  United  States."  The 
negotiations  dragged  along  and  the  war  con- 
tinued. In  May,  1782,  Congress  felt  that 
England  was  trying  to  detach  France,  not  sus- 
pecting the  French  agreement  with  Spain.  By 
August  the  attitude  of  Spain  was  so  suspicious 
that  Jay  was  authorized  to  sign  a  treaty  with 
her  "  or  go  to  any  part  of  Europe  his  health 
might  demand,"  which  meant  a  breach  of 
negotiations.  About  the  same  time  Lee  en- 
deavoured to  have  the  instructions  of  July,  '81, 
reconsidered,  with  the  result  that  finally  they 
were  practically  unchanged.  A  further  dis- 
cussion of  Witherspoon's  position  is  not  neces- 


274  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

sary.  But  from  a  study  of  his  action  it  is  plain 
that  with  the  others,  he  was  tenacious  of  every 
right  for  which  the  war  had  been  waged,  that 
he  strove  to  avoid  any  claims  which  might  en- 
danger the  prospects  of  peace,  and  that  he 
thought  the  Congress  in  honour  bound  to  be 
guided  by  their  ally,  France.  How  the  Amer- 
ican commissioners  finally  broke  their  instruc- 
tions and  made  a  separate  treaty  with  England 
regardless  of  France  is  no  part  of  this  story. 
When  the  news  of  it  first  reached  the  Congress 
many  members,  Witherspoon  among  them,  as 
also  were  Madison,  Livingston  and  Hamilton, 
were  ready  to  censure  the  commissioners. 
"When,  however,"  says  Wharton,  "the  treaty 
of  peace  in  itself  so  advantageous  arrived,  and 
when  it  appeared  that  France  made  no  official 
complaint  of  the  action  of  the  commissioners, 
and  was  even  ready  to  make  a  new  loan  to  the 
United  States,  then  Livingston,  Madison  and 
Hamilton  concurred  in  holding  that  no  vote  of 
censure  should  be  passed."  Witherspoon  held 
the  same  opinion. 

Certain  writers  have  condemned  the  Congress 
as  composed  of  stupid  blunderers,  commenting 
upon  their  weakness,  pointing  scornfully  at 
their  mistakes.  Such  criticism  is  unfair. 
When  one  considers  that  these  men  were 


WITHERSPOON,  THE  AMERICAN     275 

practically  untried  novices  in  the  larger  affairs 
of  statesmanship  and  diplomacy  it  is  marvellous 
that  they  succeeded  as  well  as  they  did.  Of 
public  finance  they  had  known  little ;  of 
military  operations  on  a  large  scale  they  knew 
less.  The  difficulties  of  Congressional  direction 
of  warfare  are  the  common  experience  of 
revolutionists.  Cromwell  had  to  deal  with 
them.  The  commander-in-chief  of  the  Con- 
federate army,  Robert  E.  Lee,  felt  then-  hinder- 
ing clutches.  But  such  experiences  are  inevita- 
ble in  a  representative  government  A  govern- 
ment as  well  organized  as  that  of  the  United 
States  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  war,  of  Eng- 
land during  the  Boer  war,  was  unable  to 
maintain  a  perfect  commissariat.  The  men 
of  the  Continental  Congress  deserve  all  praise 
for  their  fidelity  to  the  trust  reposed  in  them. 
Had  they  not  been  ready  to  sacrifice  their 
private  business,  and  run  the  risk  of  losing,  as 
some  of  them  did  lose,  their  private  fortunes,  the 
struggle  for  independence  would  never  have 
succeeded.  Without  the  Congress  there  would 
have  been  no  Confederacy ;  there  would  have 
been  no  treaty  making  power;  there  would 
have  been  only  a  military  dictatorship  which 
disunion  and  the  lack  of  foreign  support  would 
have  broken  to  pieces.  As  Witherspoon  him- 


276  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

self  said,  "  Those  who  know  how  fluctuating  a 
body  the  Congress  is  and  what  continual  changes 
take  place  in  it,  as  to  men,  must  perceive  the 
absurdity  of  their  making  or  succeeding  in  any 
such  attempt"  as  the  war  for  independence. 
That  they  did  succeed  is  due  to  the  ability  and 
fidelity  of  men  like  Witherspoon  as  well  as  of 
men  like  Washington. 


V 

THE  LAST  YEARS 

WlTHERSPOON's  first  public  utterance  after 
the  attainment  of  peace  was  a  sermon  preached 
on  the  Thanksgiving  Day  appointed  by  the 
Congress.  In  keeping  with  his  personal  re- 
ligious belief  his  text  expressed  his  own  feel- 
ings. "  Salvation  belongeth  unto  the  Lord." 
"  He  who  confesses  that  salvation  belongeth 
unto  God  will  finally  give  the  glory  to  Him. 
Confidence  before,  and  boasting  after  the  event 
are  alike  contrary  to  this  disposition.  If  any 
person  desires  to  have  his  faith  in  this  truth 
confirmed  or  improved,  let  him  read  the  history 
of  mankind  in  a  cool  and  considerate  manner, 
and  with  a  serious  frame  of  spirit.  He  will 
then  perceive  that  every  page  will  add  to  his 
conviction.  He  will  find  that  the  most  im- 
portant events  have  seemed  to  turn  upon 
circumstances  the  most  trivial  and  the  most  out 
of  the  reach  of  human  direction.  A  blast  of 
wind,  a  shower  of  rain,  a  random  shot,  a  private 
quarrel,  the  neglect  of  a  servant,  a  motion  with- 
out intention,  or  a  word  spoken  by  accident  and 
misunderstood  has  been  the  cause  of  a  victory 

277 


278  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

or  defeat  which  has  decided  the  fate  of  empires." 
He  considers  the  interposition  of  Providence 
under  three  heads,  i.  "Signal  successes  or 
particular  and  providential  favours  to  us  in 
the  course  of  the  war.  2.  Preservation  from 
difficulties  and  evils  which  seemed  to  be  in 
our  situation  unavoidable,  and  at  the  same 
time  next  to  insurmountable.  3.  Confounding 
the  councils  of  our  enemies  and  making  them 
hasten  on  the  change  which  they  desired  to 
prevent." 

He  speaks  of  the  general  unpreparedness  of 
the  country  for  war.  "There  was  a  willing 
spirit,  but  unarmed  hands."  To  the  militia 
who  contributed  so  much  to  the  success  of  the 
American  arms  he  gives  generous  praise.  Re- 
garding Washington's  leadership  "  as  a  favour 
from  the  God  of  heaven  "  he  pays  his  tribute  in 
these  simple  words.  "  Consider  his  coolness 
and  prudence,  his  fortitude  and  perseverance, 
his  happy  talent  of  engaging  the  affection  of 
all  ranks,  so  that  he  is  equally  acceptable  to  the 
citizen,  and  to  the  soldier — to  the  state  in  which 
he  was  born  and  to  every  other  on  the  continent 
To  be  a  brave  man  or  skillful  commander,  is 
common  to  him  with  many  others ;  but  this 
country  stood  in  need  of  a  comprehensive  and 
penetrating  mind,  which  understood  the  effect 


THE  LAST  YEARS  279 

of  particular  measures  in  bringing  the  general 
cause  to  an  issue.  When  we  contrast  his  char- 
acter and  conduct  with  those  of  the  various 
leaders  that  have  been  opposed  to  him,  when 
we  consider  their  attempts  to  blast  each  others' 
reputation,  and  the  short  duration  of  their  com- 
mand, we  must  say  that  Providence  has  fitted 
him  for  the  charge  and  called  him  to  the 
service." 

The  union  and  harmony  of  the  several  states, 
and  of  these  with  their  allies  is  another  proof. 
For  the  patience  and  devotion  of  the  people  he 
has  nothing  but  praise.  "  It  is  true  that  Con- 
gress has,  in  many  instances  been  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  measures  in  themselves  hard 
and  oppressive  and  confessed  to  be  so ;  which 
yet,  have  been  patiently  submitted  to,  because  of 
the  important  purpose  that  was  to  be  served  by 
them.  Of  this  kind  was  the  emission  of  paper 
money ;  the  passing  of  tender  laws ;  compelling 
all  into  the  militia ;  draughting  the  militia  to 
fill  the  regular  army ;  pressing  provisions  and 
carriages ;  and  many  others  of  the  like  nature. 
Two  things  are  remarkable  in  this  whole 
matter :  one,  that  every  imposition  for  the 
public  service  fell  heaviest  on  those  who  were 
the  friends  of  America ;  the  lukewarm  or 
contrary-minded  always  finding  some  way  of 


28o  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

shifting  the  load  from  their  own  shoulders. 
The  other,  that  from  the  freedom  of  the  press 
of  this  country  there  never  were  wanting,  the 
boldest  and  most  inflammatory  publications, 
both  against  men  and  measures.  Yet  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other,  nor  both  united,  had  any 
perceptible  influence  in  weakening  the  attach- 
ment of  the  people."  He  speaks  of  the 
barbarity  of  the  British  both  towards  non- 
combatants  and  prisoners  of  war;  of  the 
splendid  courage  of  the  soldiers  both  under 
privation  and  in  battle.  The  sermon  is  a  fine 
summary  of  the  elements  of  character  which 
finally  brought  victory.  As  to  the  future  he 
thinks  that  "a  republic  once  equally  poised 
must  either  preserve  its  virtue  or  lose  its 
liberty."  Public  office  demands  high  char- 
acter. "  Let  a  man's  zeal,  profession,  or  even 
principles  as  to  political  measures  be  what  they 
will,  if  he  is  without  personal  integrity  and 
private  virtue,  as  a  man  he  is  not  to  be 
trusted."  "  Let  us  endeavour  to  bring  into 
and  keep  in  credit  and  reputation  everything 
that  may  serve  to  give  vigour  to  an  equal 
republican  constitution.  Let  us  cherish  a  love 
of  piety,  order,  industry,  frugality.  Let  us 
check  every  disposition  to  luxury,  effeminacy, 
and  the  pleasures  of  a  dissipated  life.  Let  us 


THE  LAST  YEARS  281 

in  public  measures  put  honour  upon  modesty 
and  self-denial,  which  is  the  index  of  real 
merit" 

Early  in  the  struggle  he  had  said  that  the 
American  Revolution  "would  be  an  important 
era  in  the  history  of  mankind."  "  Happy  was 
it  for  us,"  says  Tyler,  "  that  this  clear-headed 
thinker,  this  expert  in  the  art  of  popular  ex- 
position, was  in  full  sympathy  with  those  deep 
human  currents  of  patriotic  thought  and  feeling 
which  swept  towards  an  independent  national 
life  in  this  land.  Happy  was  it  for  us,  also,  that 
while  he  was  capable  beyond  most  men  of  see- 
ing the  historic  and  cosmopolitan  significance 
of  the  movement  for  American  independence, 
he  had  the  moral  greatness  to  risk  even  his  own 
great  favour  with  the  American  people  by  tell- 
ing them  that  the  acquisition  of  independence 
was  not  to  be  the  end  of  their  troubles,  but 
rather  in  some  sense  the  beginning  of  them; 
since  greater  perils  than  those  brought  in  by 
Red  Coats  and  Hessians  were  then  to  meet 
them,  in  the  form  of  shallow  and  anarchical 
politics,  corruption  among  voters,  unscrupulous 
partisanship,  new  and  hitherto  unimagined 
forms  of  demagogism,  and  the  boisterous  in- 
competence of  men  entrusted  with  power  in  the 
regulation  and  guidance  of  the  state."  "  I  am 


282  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

much  mistaken,"  said  Witherspoon,  "  if  the 
time  is  not  just  at  hand  when  there  shall  be 
greater  need  than  ever  in  America  for  the  most 
accurate  discussion  of  the  principles  of  society, 
the  rights  of  nations  and  the  policy  of  states." 

To  that  discussion  he  contributed  one  of  the 
clearest,  most  forceful  essays  on  the  subject  of 
finance  that  will  be  found  in  the  literature  of 
our  country.  In  the  Continental  Congress  he 
had  lamented,  where  he  could  not  prevent,  the 
emission  of  paper  currency,  speaking  against  it 
frequently.  To  the  sound  financial  measures 
of  Robert  Morris  he  gave  his  unstinted  support. 
In  the  leisure  of  his  retirement  at  Princeton 
after  the  war  he  gathered  together  his  speeches 
made  in  Congress  and  issued  them  in  the  form 
of  an  "  Essay  on  Money."  Many  of  the  states 
were  carried  away  by  the  paper-money  fever 
and  were  issuing  it  freely.  He  deprecates  this. 
Carefully  discussing  the  nature  of  money  and 
the  history  of  finance,  he  points  out  the  dangers 
attending  a  depreciated  currency.  "  It  is,"  he 
says,  "an  absurdity  reserved  for  American 
legislatures."  "  For  two  or  three  years  we 
constantly  saw  and  were  informed,"  he  humor- 
ously remarks,  "of  creditors  running  away 
from  their  debtors,  and  then  pursuing  them 
in  triumph,  and  paying  them  without  mercy." 


THE  LAST  YEARS  283 

"Tender  laws,  arming  paper,  or  anything 
not  valuable  in  itself  with  authority  are 
directly  contrary  to  the  very  first  principles  of 
commerce."  "  All  paper  money  increases  the 
price  of  industry  and  its  fruits."  "  It  annihilates 
credit" 

Other  subjects  also  claimed  his  attention. 
During  the  year  1781,  Witherspoon  employed 
his  leisure  in  writing  for  a  periodical,  which  I 
have  not  been  able  to  identify,  eight  articles 
which  he  called  "The  Druid."  In  these  he 
treated  different  subjects.  In  the  first  he  de- 
fends the  dignity  of  human  nature  against  the 
habits  of  prejudice  and  slanderous  statements. 
He  appeals  to  the  love  of  truth,  to  honour  and 
to  the  nobler  effects  of  justice.  "  The  greatest 
strength  of  a  people  is  in  their  virtues."  "  He 
who  makes  a  people  virtuous  makes  them  in- 
vincible." The  second  paper  pleads  for  as 
much  gentleness  and  humanity  as  is  possible 
in  carrying  on  war.  Wanton  destruction  of 
property,  assaults  on  non-combatants,  brutality 
towards  prisoners  should  be  discountenanced. 
His  fourth  article  is  a  capital  plea  for  the  exer- 
cise of  plain  common  sense  in  the  affairs  of  life. 
It  has  touches  of  humour.  He  begs  parents  to 
make  "  a  moderate  estimation  of  the  talents  of 
their  children."  His  concluding  sentence  is, 


284  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

"  Let  all,  therefore,  who  wish  or  hope  to  be 
eminent,  remember,  that  as  the  height  to  which 
you  can  raise  a  tower  depends  upon  the  size 
and  solidity  of  its  base,  so  they  ought  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  their  future  fame  deep  and  strong 
in  sobriety,  prudence  and  patient  industry,  which 
are  the  genuine  dictates  (A plain  common  sense" 
The  remaining  numbers  treated  of  polite 
speech  under  the  heads  of  Americanisms,  vul- 
garisms, cant  phrases,  etc.,  of  which,  he  says, 
he  has  made  a  collection  for  several  years.  An 
interesting  statement  made  by  him  is  that  "  the 
vulgar  in  America  speak  much  better  than  the 
vulgar  in  Great  Britain,"  his  reason  being  that 
the  settlers  have  not  lived  long  enough  in 
isolated  communities  to  acquire  dialects.  But 
he  thinks,  on  the  other  hand,  that  while  some 
British  "  gentlemen  and  scholars  speak  as  much 
with  the  vulgar  in  common  chit-chat,  as  persons 
of  the  same  class  do  in  America,  there  is  a  re- 
markable difference  in  their  public  and  solemn 
discourses  "  in  favour  of  Great  Britain. 

Unfortunately  few  of  Witherspoon's  letters 
have  been  preserved.  He  carried  on  a  very 
active  correspondence  with  his  youngest  son, 
David,  while  the  young  man  was  teaching 
school  in  Virginia.  These  letters  show  his 
solicitude  for  his  son's  welfare,  especially  his 


THE  LAST  YEARS  285 

piety  and  attendance  upon  religious  duties. 
They  give  news  of  the  family  and  of  public 
affairs.  In  order  to  encourage  the  boy  in  schol- 
arly efforts  his  father  writes  sometimes  in  Latin, 
or  in  French,  and  requests  his  son  to  do  so. 
But  after  David  Witherspoon  became  secretary 
to  the  President  of  Congress,  these  letters  ceased 
and  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  of  later 
date. 

His  relations  with  his  eldest  son,  John,  were 
not  happy.  For  some  reason  not  now  discov- 
erable, the  young  man  took  offense  at  his  father 
and  refused  to  hold  any  intercourse  with  him  or 
to  answer  any  letters.  He  died  in  South  Caro- 
lina, leaving  no  family. 

During  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  Dr.  With- 
erspoon continued  to  serve  as  the  nominal 
president  of  Princeton,  but  the  duties  of  that 
office  were  performed  by  his  son-in-law,  Rev. 
Samuel  S.  Smith,  D.  D.,  who  became  his  im- 
mediate successor.  As  has  already  been  related, 
Witherspoon  resided  on  his  farm,  Tusculum, 
about  a  mile  above  Princeton.  His  interest  in 
public  affairs  continued  until  the  end  of  his  life. 
When  the  Georgia  legislature  proposed  to  in- 
troduce a  clause  in  its  constitution  excluding 
clergymen  from  public  office,  he  wrote  to  one 
of  the  newspapers  protesting  against  such  a  dis- 


286  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

crimination.  His  tone  is  serious,  but  he  could 
not  avoid  the  sarcasm  which  he  knew  so  well 
how  to  use.  He  wishes  to  know  why  a  minis- 
ter is  disqualified  and  whether  it  is  a  sin  to  seek 
the  office.  "  Does  his  calling  render  him  stupid 
or  ignorant?"  He  closes  by  suggesting  the 
following  paragraph  as  sufficiently  covering  the 
subject : 

"  No  clergyman,  of  any  denomination,  shall 
be  capable  of  being  elected  a  member  of  the 
Senate  or  House  of  Representatives,  because 
[here  insert  the  grounds  of  offensive  disqualifi- 
cation, which  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover] 
provided  always,  and  it  is  the  true  intent  and 
meaning  of  this  part  of  the  constitution,  that  if 
at  any  time  he  shall  be  completely  deprived  o( 
the  clerical  character  by  those  by  whom  he  was 
invested  with  it,  as  by  deposition  for  cursing  and 
swearing,  drunkenness  or  uncleanness,  he  shall 
then  be  fully  restored  to  all  the  privileges  of  a 
free  citizen ;  his  offense  shall  no  more  be  re- 
membered against  him  ;  but  he  may  be  chosen 
either  to  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  shall  be  treated  with  all  the  respect 
due  to  his  brethren,  the  other  members  of  the 
Assembly." 

Other  literary  work  produced  a  series  of  Let- 
ters on  Marriage  and  on  Education,  both  col- 


THE  LAST  YEARS  287 

lections  full  of  pungent,  practical  suggestions  on 
these  topics. 

So  little  did  he  anticipate  the  growth  and  fu- 
ture necessities  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  movement  to 
select  a  Federal  city  for  the  permanent  seat  of 
government.  In  an  article  giving  his  views  he 
resents  criticism  of  the  salaries  paid  congress- 
men. "  I  hope  few  persons  will  ever  be  in  Con- 
gress, who,  devoting  their  time  to  the  public 
service,  may  not  well  deserve  the  compensation 
fixed  for  them  for  their  character  and  talents." 
But  he  adds,  "  I  should  also  be  sorry  to  hear  of 
any  member  of  Congress  who  became  rich  by 
the  savings  above  his  expense.  I  know  very 
well,  that  there  have  been  congressmen  and  as- 
semblymen too,  who  have  carried  home  consid- 
erable sums  from  less  wages ;  but  they  were 
such  generally  as  did  more  good  to  their  fam- 
ilies by  their  penury  than  to  their  country  by 
their  political  wisdom." 

These  remarks  having  been  offered  he  states 
his  objections  to  selecting  any  particular  city  or 
erecting  buildings  for  the  Federal  government, 
because  it  is  not  necessary.  In  the  light  of  sub- 
sequent history  the  good  doctor's  acrid  criticisms 
are  doubly  amusing.  "  Does  it,"  he  asks,  "  ap- 
pear necessary  from  the  nature  of  things  ?  No. 


288  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

The  weight  and  influence  of  any  deliberative  or 
legislative  body,  depend  much  more  on  the  wis- 
dom of  their  measures  than  on  the  splendid 
apartments  in  which  they  are  assembled." 

One  remark  is  especially  interesting  in  view 
of  what  has  occurred  since  it  was  written.  "  If 
the  American  empire  come  to  be  one  consoli- 
dated government,  I  grant  it  would  be  of  some 
consequence  that  the  seat  of  that  government 
and  source  of  authority  should  not  be  too  distant 
from  the  extremities,  for  reasons  which  I  need 
not  here  mention.  But  if  the  particular  states 
are  to  be  preserved  and  supported  in  their  con- 
stitutional government,  it  seems  of  very  little 
consequence  where  the  Congress,  consisting  of 
representatives  from  these  states,  shall  hold  their 
sessions."  So  little  did  he,  or  anybody  in  his 
day,  anticipate  the  centralization  of  power  and 
expansion  of  territory  which  has  placed  America 
in  the  forefront  of  the  nations.  There  were  not 
wanting,  however,  men  who  foresaw  the  future 
greatness  of  the  new  nation.  The  Spanish 
ambassador  wrote  to  his  king,  "This  federal  re- 
public is  born  a  pigmy.  A  day  will  come  when 
it  will  be  a  giant  Liberty  of  conscience,  the 
facility  of  establishing  a  new  population  on  im- 
mense lands,  as  well  as  the  advantages  of  the 
new  government,  will  draw  thither  farmers  and 


THE  LAST  YEARS  289 

artisans  from  all  the  nations.  In  a  few  years  we 
shall  watch  with  grief  the  tyrannical  existence 
of  this  same  Colossus."  Little  did  the  Spaniard 
perceive  that  liberty  of  conscience  and  tyranny 
are  impossibilities  in  the  same  nation. 

One  of  the  annual  commonplaces  of  college 
life  is  the  baccalaureate  sermon.  Of  those 
which  Witherspoon  preached  only  one  has 
been  preserved.  So  far  as  we  know  this  one 
was  delivered  twice;  once  in  1775  and  again 
in  1787.  He  urges  upon  his  young  auditors 
three  important  considerations,  their  duty  to 
God,  the  prosecution  of  their  studies  or  im- 
provement of  their  talents,  as  members  of 
society,  and  prudence  in  their  intercourse  with 
the  world.  Religion  should  be  as  much  a  part 
of  the  business  man's  life,  he  thinks,  as  of  the 
clergyman's.  One  does  not  go  to  heaven  or 
hell  as  minister,  lawyer,  physician,  soldier,  or 
merchant,  but  as  a  man.  "  He  must  have  a 
very  mean  taste  indeed,  who  is  capable  of 
finding  pleasure  in  disorder  and  riot."  "  If  I 
had  no  higher  pleasure  on  earth  than  in  eating 
and  drinking,  I  would  not  choose  to  eat  and 
drink  with  the  drunken,"  he  tells  them,  in  urg- 
ing them  to  be  decent  and  orderly.  "  Order, 
neatness,  elegance,  and  even  moderation  itself, 
are  necessary  to  exalt  and  refine  the  pleasures 


290  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

of  a  sensual  life."  Warning  them  against  pride 
and  superciliousness,  a  disposition  to  judge 
others,  he  says,  "It  is  not  only  lawful,  but  our 
duty,  to  have  a  free  communication  with  our 
fellow  citizens,  for  the  purposes  of  social  life ;  it 
is  not  only  lawful  but  our  duty  to  be  courteous, 
and  to  give  every  proper  evidence  of  respect 
and  attention  to  others  according  to  their  rank 
and  place  in  society."  "  We  see  sometimes  the 
pride  of  unsanctified  knowledge  do  great  injury 
to  religion ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  we  find 
some  persons  of  real  piety,  despising  human 
learning,  and  disgracing  the  most  glorious 
truths  by  a  meanness  and  indecency  hardly 
sufferable  in  their  manner  of  handling  them." 
"Multitudes  of  moderate  capacity  have  been 
useful  in  their  generation,  respected  by  the 
public,  and  successful  in  life,  while  those  of 
superior  talents  by  nature,  by  mere  slothfulness 
and  idle  habits,  or  self-indulgence,  have  lived 
useless,  and  died  contemptible."  "  Persons  of 
the  greatest  ability  have  generally  been  lovers 
of  order.  Neither  is  there  any  instance  to  be 
found,  of  a  man's  arriving  at  great  reputation 
or  usefulness,  be  his  capacity  what  it  might, 
without  industry  and  application."  "  What- 
ever a  man's  talents  from  nature  may  be,  if  he 
apply  himself  to  what  is  not  altogether  un- 


THE  LAST  YEARS  291 

suitable  to  them,  and  holds  on  with  steadiness 
and  uniformity,  he  will  be  useful  and  happy ; 
but  if  he  be  loose  and  volatile,  impatient  of  the 
slowness  of  things  in  their  usual  course,  and 
shifting  from  project  to  project,  he  will  probably 
be  neither  the  one  nor  the  other."  Such  was 
the  advice  given  to  young  men  by  one  whose 
own  life  was  its  best  illustration.  "  True  re- 
ligion should  furnish  you  with  a  higher  and 
nobler  principle  to  govern  your  conduct,  than 
the  desire  of  applause  from  men.  Yet,  in  sub- 
ordination to  what  ought  to  be  the  great  pur- 
pose of  life,"  said  this  man  among  men,  "there 
is  a  just  and  laudable  ambition  to  do  what  is 
praiseworthy  among  men.  This  ought  not  to 
be  extinguished  in  the  minds  of  youth  ;  being  a 
powerful  spur  and  incitement  to  virtuous  or 
illustrious  actions."  "A  man's  real  character 
in  point  of  ability,  is  never  mistaken,  and  but 
seldom  in  point  of  morals.  That  there  are  many 
malicious  and  censorious  persons,  I  agree  ;  but 
lies  are  not  half  so  durable  as  truth.  Therefore 
reverence  the  judgment  of  mankind  without 
idolizing  it."  He  was  no  recluse.  "As  to 
piety,"  he  said,  "  nothing  is  more  essential  to  it 
than  social  communication."  As  to  their  inter- 
course with  the  world  in  general  he  gives  them 
many  nuggets  of  practical  sense.  "  The  moral 


292  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

virtue  of  meekness  and  condescension  is  the 
best  ground  work  even  of  worldly  politeness,  and 
prepares  a  man  to  receive  that  polish,  which 
makes  his  behaviour  generally  agreeable,  and 
fits  him  for  intercourse  with  persons  in  the  higher 
ranks  of  life.  The  same  virtue  enables  a  man 
to  manage  his  affairs  to  advantage.  A  good 
shopkeeper  is  commonly  remarkable  for  this 
quality.  People  love  to  go  where  they  meet 
with  good  words  and  gentle  treatment ;  whereas 
the  peevish  and  petulant  have  a  repelling 
quality."  Warning  them  against  talkativeness 
he  says,  "There  are  some  persons  who,  one 
might  say,  give  away  so  much  wisdom  in  their 
speech,  that  they  leave  none  behind  to  govern 
their  actions."  Speaking  of  the  sort  of  friend- 
ship to  be  formed  he  remarks,  "There  never 
was  a  true  friend  who  was  not  an  honest  man." 
"  Think  of  others  as  reason  and  religion  require 
you  and  treat  them  as  it  is  your  duty  to  do, 
and  you  will  not  be  far  from  a  well  polished 
behaviour."  He  is  sure  that  the  best  manners 
can  be  learned  only  in  the  best  company, 
and  recommends  a  study  of  Rochefoucauld's 
Maxims  and  Chesterfield's  Letters.  He  him- 
self was  always  the  most  courteous  and  dignified 
of  men,  but  with  an  undefinable  charm  which 
drew  all  classes  to  him.  As  to  their  judgments 


THE  LAST  YEARS  293 

of  others  he  bids  them  remember  that  "  Prob- 
ably men  are  neither  so  good  as  they  pretend 
nor  so  bad  as  they  are  often  thought  to  be." 
In  his  opinion  the  one  great  virtue  is  truthful- 
ness. "  Let  me,  therefore,  commend  to  you  a 
strict,  universal,  and  scrupulous  regard  to 
truth.  It  will  give  dignity  to  your  character — 
it  will  put  order  into  your  affairs ;  it  will  excite 
the  most  unbounded  confidence,  so  that 
whether  your  view  be  your  own  interest,  or  the 
service  of  others,  it  promises  you  the  most 
assured  success.  I  am  also  persuaded  that 
there  is  no  virtue  that  has  a  more  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  every  other,  and  certainly  there 
is  none  by  which  you  can  draw  nearer  to  God 
Himself  whose  distinguishing  character  is,  that 
He  will  not,  and  He  cannot  lie." 

Witherspoon  thought  that  family  religion 
was  of  quite  as  much  importance  as  public  re- 
ligion. In  his  own  household  family  prayers 
were  said  morning  and  evening.  Saturday 
evening  was  set  aside  for  the  meditation 
deemed  necessary  as  a  proper  approach  to  the 
Sabbath.  Holy  days  there  were  none  in  that 
Puritan  home,  but  on  the  last  night  of  the  year 
he  called  his  family  together  and  impressed 
upon  them  the  precepts  of  religion  and  right 
living. 


294  JOHN  WITHERSPOON 

In  1789  his  wife  died  leaving  him  altogether 
alone,  as  all  his  children  had  by  that  time  left 
home.  In  a  year  and  a  half  he  married  a 
young  widow  of  only  twenty  years  of  age, 
Mrs.  Ann  Dill,  of  Philadelphia.  By  her  he  had 
two  daughters,  one  of  whom  died  in  infancy. 

To  the  last  of  his  life  he  took  a  keen  interest 
in  all  sorts  of  matters,  writing  letters,  preparing 
articles  for  the  papers,  looking  after  his  private 
business  and  lecturing  in  the  college.  On  the 
journey  to  Europe  in  1784  during  a  storm  he 
had  been  thrown  against  the  side  of  the  vessel 
and  received  a  blow  which  so  injured  one  eye 
that  the  sight  of  it  was  impaired.  The  other 
was  bruised  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  while 
riding  over  land  which  he  had  bought  in 
Vermont.  The  second  accident  occurred  in 
the  summer  of  1791.  From  that  time  he  was 
unable  to  read  or  write  and  was  obliged  to 
employ  a  secretary,  usually  one  of  the  students. 
One  of  these  has  left  an  account  of  Dr.  Wither* 
spoon's  habits  during  the  last  three  years  of  his 
life.  He  continued  to  preach,  being  led  into 
the  pulpit  where  he  delivered  verbatim  a  ser- 
mon of  his  own  composition  which  had  been 
read  to  him  by  his  secretary.  Nor  did  he  ab- 
sent himself  from  the  meetings  of  his  church, 
attending  them  regularly  up  to  the  last.  His 


THE  LAST  YEARS  295 

correspondence  was  large  and  two  days  of  each 
week  were  generally  devoted  to  it.  For  some 
time  before  his  death  he  was  obliged  to  give  up 
preaching  because  of  fits  of  dizziness  which  his 
physician  regarded  as  threats  of  apoplexy. 
"On  the  1 5th  day  of  November  1794,  in  the 
seventy  third  year  of  his  age,  he  retired  to  his 
eternal  rest,  full  of  honour  and  full  of  days." 


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